RIB® Bullnose Entrance canopies, Somerset House

These RIB® Bullnose Entrance canopies are special in that they are free standing and every year Fortnum and Mason ask us to install them to welcome visitors to Somerset House. After Christmas the canopies are removed and stored away and there is no damage to this listed historical building. This type of entrance canopy, especially those of the "Bullnose" style, so known because their blunt aspect,   serve to both draw attention to venues and shelter visitors. Our RIB® method of construction is extremely resilient, using no plastic parts, and the aluminium frame provides a durable solution for areas that, by their very nature are susceptible to inclement weather.

Fortnum and Mason was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason; they are especially known for their exclusive hampers which are much welcomed, especially at Christmas time. During the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century, the business  supplied dried fruit, spices and other preserves to British officers and later in the Victorian era it was frequently called upon to provide food for prestigious court functions. Queen Victoria reputedly sent shipments of Fortnum & Mason's concentrated beef tea to Florence Nightingale's hospitals during the Crimean War.

Somerset House has strong naval connections and In 1789 the Navy Board moved into grand riverside rooms in the western half of the newly-completed South Wing. At the time the Thames embankment had not been constructed and senior Naval Officers could alight from vessels straight into the South  Wing.