We had to put lavatories in, and the plumbing and ventilation, but where in hell do you put all that stuff? But by the time of the final whistle, Leinster’s season was over. A week later Munster were the URC champions after a thrilling victory over Stormers. T1 - Managing Paralympic Bodies: The Technology of Classification and Its Impact on (Dis)abled Athletes

The other great unknown was the decoration. Although the condition of the plasterwork had been established, as work progressed new areas of blown plaster would be discovered. Old decorative schemes were also uncovered, notably in a corridor where hand-painted birds were found under newer layers of paint. Recreation of these took four months. “It added time but as it’s a corridor, the follow-on work was minimal,” explains Frawley. So who was brave enough to take on these challenges? The Manhattan Loft Corporation (MLC) stepped up, unable to resist the chance of turning those gloriously gothic, steep roof spaces into modern flats. “We introduced the concept of loft living to the UK, and there’s probably no better attic in the UK,” says Harry Handelsman, the firm’s founder. “I saw it as a chance to create a distinctive identity for a building everyone was in awe of.”

When workers took down a huge mirror over a fireplace in a white-painted bedroom, they found richly decorated paper behind it. The company responsible, Angel Interiors, turned to wallpaper expert Allyson McDermott to recreate it. “We did it exactly as it was done 130 years ago,” explains Gary Butcher, managing director of Angel Interiors. The first job was to make a paper that exactly matched the composition of the original, then cover it in gold leaf.

The golden age of the railway hotel will be evoked next month with the reopening of George Gilbert Scott’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, the Midland Grand hotel. After a long and painstaking refurbishment, the building will make its debut as the five-star Renaissance St Pancras and complete the regeneration of St Pancras station. There are a lot of very clever people who have come up with a great thing and there is a lot of money behind it, but I think it needs an overlay of great communication.” Fundamental change

The firm wanted to develop the building jointly with Whitbread, which held the UK franchise for Marriott hotels, but after Whitbread sold its franchise, MLC decided to develop the hotel and apartments alone, then lease the hotel to Marriott. Once in control of the whole building, MLC raised the number of apartments to 67 and extended them to the second floor. “We preferred to have more apartments, as the hotel was more risky,” says Handelsman, “but the way the area has developed, the hotel will probably be the more lucrative element.” As Mr Hill put it: “There isn’t a single vocational or academic qualification in the construction industry that has manufacturing as even a module. So, we are training internally, but we need the change to happen at universities. According to Frawley, the services strategy was based on what could feasibly be shoehorned into the building. This was fine until the client decided to bump up the hotel specification, which meant more baths and showers. “This was challenging as we had to work with the services as they were,” says Frawley. Some had to be rerouted. Bigger pipes were used along with bigger pumps to push through a higher volume of water. This all about to change. With St Pancras station and its refurbished Barlow train shed now providing the stunning terminus for High Speed 1, this once neglected part of north London is vibrant, and the hotel building a prime piece of real estate.

The arrival of high speed rail services did not quite complete the rebirth of London’s St Pancras station. Mark Hansford reports on the final challenge of restoring and reopening the Gothic glory that is Gilbert Scott’s Midland Grand Hotel.When the Blues went 17-0 after 11 minutes against Ronan O’Gara’s defending champions it appeared to be a gamble that had worked. In many ways the Midland Grand was the last of an era and by the thirties other hotels had overtaken it. The Savoy had its balconies enclosed and turned into ensuite bathrooms and the Ritz hotel had recently opened. Because of the difficultly and cost of modernisation, the hotel closed in 1935 and the Midland Railway, by now part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, took over the commercial rooms as offices and turned the staff rooms in the attic into a hostel for cleaning ladies. The building was renamed St Pancras Chambers. Online version available at: https://www.casa.gov.au//about-us/who-we-are/about-casa/our-organisational-chart-accessible-text-version