The Chrysalis Club Neon for Wiltons Music Hall

‘The Chrysalis Club’ Neon for Wiltons Music Hall, London

Hidden down a tiny back street, on Graces Alley in Whitechapel, east London, stands the country’s last intact survivor of the grand music hall era. Wilton’s Music Hall, originally built in 1859, with its crumbling facade and peeling plaster, is a glimpse back to a time when Britain and London were at their economic peak.

The Telegraph

The brilliant Frances Mayhew, at the time spearheading the restoration of London’s Wiltons Music Hall, approached Carousel Lights and asked us if we could produce ‘The Chrysalis Club’ neon sign. This was the moniker that the hall was using whilst going through the process of coming to back to life as a London venue,

‘The Chrysalis Club’

Wilton’s Music Hall underwent a significant restoration programme in 2012-1015, having secured heritage funding to undertake the works. The hall remained open, running events under ‘The Chrysalis Club’ during this period of reinvention. The neon sign that Carousel Lights produced was to fly above the stage during this important period in the hall’s history.

‘The Chrysalis Club’ neon specification

Frances and her team had designed the style of ‘The Chrysalis Club’, and it was decided that for it to blend in with the backdrop, but at the same time remaining moveable, that Carousel Lights would supply a primed aluminium mount to Wiltons. Onto this, they painted the background which matched the backdrop in front of which the sign would be secured.

12mm diameter Antique Pale Yellow glass was used to handbend the neon glass in London, which was brought to site in separate sections and then assembled onto the mount which the fantastic team at Wiltons had painted in advance.

The mount, measuring 2000mm (w) x 1300mm (h) had a foamex back which enabled the neon to be easily fixed to the backdrop and a pulley system then ensured the whole piece could be raised into position.