ASHRAE Journal - January 2022 - 54

TECHNICAL FEATURE
The final outcome of these investigations were ambitious
plans to abandon and replace the 19th century
system, which were first outlined in a white paper from
July 16, 1936.13 This shows that the Office of Works was
proposing to combine Hill's scheme for changing the
architecture of the air supply with the introduction of
mechanical ventilation and air conditioning. While
these plans already contained the key features of Faber's
later scheme, political circumstances prevented it from
ever being realized within the historic chamber. It was
initially postponed due to financial constraints imposed
by the UK rearmament program and the subsequent
outbreak of World War II. The chamber's destruction in
May 1941 brought the inquiries into the historic system
to an abrupt end.
Its destruction forced MPs to initially decamp to
Church House and later to the chamber of the House of
Lords for sittings. However, as soon June 1941 MPs began
discussing the rebuilding of the lost chamber, and the
concerns underlying the prewar investigations continued
to influence the discourse.
Rebuilding the House:
The Continuation of a Long-Standing Inquiry, 1943 - 1950
MPs themselves were leading the initial investigations
into the rebuilding between 1941 and 1945, in which
Prime Minister Winston Churchill took a central role.
These began with ideas and expectations being voiced
and discussed during debates or parliamentary questions,
and the final design for the new chamber was
developed under the direction of a Select Committee.
This was composed of MPs, who collaborated with the
Ministry of Works and a team of external consultants.
The fact that the procurement of the design was overseen
by MPs, not engineers or architects, is significant,
as it resulted in their first-hand experience of the historic
conditions strongly influencing ideas about its
future design.
Churchill voiced his views for the first time during
parliamentary questions on June 19, 1941. He advocated
a close reconstruction of the historic interior, rejecting
suggestions from other MPs for changes to its layout,
form or dimensions or proposals for relocation to a new
site outside the Palace of Westminster. He argued that
changes should be limited to " some improvement in
the system of ventilation, or some minor readjustment
of the accommodation in the galleries not affecting
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the size, shape or character. " 14 On February 5, 1942,
when questioned by Percy Hurd, MP for Devizes, if he
intended to retain " that traditional character of the ventilation
of the old chamber, " Churchill reiterated that he
" especially excepted that traditional feature " from those
to be closely reconstructed.15
A first tentative set of plans for the rebuilding was
produced by the Ministry of Works in autumn of 1943,
which envisaged to simply reinstate the original chamber
with some improvements. Churchill again noted
that it included " certain desirable improvements and
modernizations affecting the ventilation. " Despite
Churchill's assurances regarding the use modern of
building services, a deep felt discontent with the historic
arrangements continued to be voiced during several sittings.16
This illustrates that memories of the problems
with the historic system had not faded and continued
to shape MPs' views of the requirements for a modern
chamber. On November 4, 1843, for instance, Sir
William Davison wished that the new chamber " should
not be ventilated by air driven through Honorable
Members' feet. " 17
On October 28, 1943, Churchill presented a motion
for the appointment of a Select Committee to coordinate
the development of " plans for the rebuilding of the
House of Commons and upon such alterations as may
be considered desirable while preserving all its essential
features. " 18 This was followed by an impassioned debate,
in which the need to overcome the defects of the historic
ventilation was raised by several MPs. It was first
mentioned in the speech of Arthur Duckworth, MP for
Shrewsbury. He argued that the House " suffered from
a system ventilation which is antiquated and calculated
to give everyone cold feet and a hot head. " George
Buchanan, MP for Glasgow Gorbals, noted that it had a
" terrible atmosphere, " and Captain Cunningham-Reid,
sitting for Marylebone, said that he " felt with other
Members that it is absolutely essential " that the " ventilation
should be considerably improved. " 18
Somerset de Chair, who sat for South West Norfolk,
argued that there was insufficient ventilation and
light that " made a lot of Members very unpleasant and
uncomfortable " and also claimed that he had " seen
admirals come into the House red in the face from the
quarterdeck and within a week they were as white as lily
from the lack of ventilation. " Arthur Greenwood, MP for
Wakefield, asked for improvements to ventilation, which
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