Government House, Antigua

Government House has served as the seat of the governor general of Antigua and Barbuda for the last 200 years and remains the governor’s office today. Working in close collaboration with Curisa Smith of FRagments Architecture in Antigua, ADAM Architecture was appointed by the Heritage Trust (Antigua and Barbuda) to restore the building, undoing past unsuccessful attempts to adapt it, along with more substantial work to stabilise the structure and reinstate lost historic fabric.

Work included comprehensive restoration of the floorboards and staircase, as well as the principle rooms on the ground floor. The dining room, drawing room and events spaces, as well as an investiture room, had suffered from ad hoc adaptations but are now fit to be used again for important national events. The former billiard room has been restored to its original plan.

The rooms on the upper floors have not previously been open to the public but now provide accommodation for a museum dedicated to the history of Antigua and Barbuda.

Reversing decades of unsympathetic alterations and working with local craftspeople to reinstate traditional construction techniques was central to this project.