In 2003, the brief to Axminster Carpets and Linney Cooper was to produce approximately 4,000sqm of bordered carpets for the rooms, corridors, stairs and landings at the Royal Albert Hall. The request was for a Victorian design and border with a complimentary outfill.
It was essential the majority of fitting was to be completed between10pm and 6am, after the live performances had finished. To tackle this extremely difficult task, an assortment of different departments were asked for their input and many hours of planning were required to tackle this particular fitting.
The Royal Albert Hall is an oval shape with the main corridors resembling that of a giant horseshoe. As the finished oval carpet measured 57m by 53, and was not symmetrical, the entire piece had to be designed with three tiers of different shapes.
Each tier took approximately one month from measurement, to design, to the plan on the loom for weaving. Each landing and half landing needed to be designed as an individual rug, woven within such a degree of accuracy that on a 28m roll of finished carpet, the design required to be woven to be within 1 inch of the design length.
