The picture shows the peristyle with supporting scaffolding. Photo: Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Lyder Marstrander

The Palace of Mirrors is a building within Lahore fort in Lahore. Shish Mahal was built in 1631 by Shah Jahan as a part of the residence of the Empress and her court. It is a peristyle with an open wall to the south. The walls and the ceiling are covered with convex mirrors in patterns that look fantastic when illuminated. The ceiling is in a bad condition due to rot and partly to termite attack. The beams are nearly devoured by termites but still have structural integrity.

New method for securing the plaster ceiling
The Directorate for Cultural Heritage has been asked to come up with a new method for securing the plaster ceiling. Our recommendation was to suspend a steel mesh between the beams, and attach it to the original plaster from the topside.

Work on the new suspended ceiling was finished in 2004. NORAD has mainly financed the work through UNESCO, and the Directorate for Cultural Heritage together with the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History have been technical advisers.