Syracuse

Created in 1967 by Jean Taralon - general inspector of historical buildings – and set since 1970 in the former stables of the castle of Champs-sur-Marne, the LRMH is a governmental service that reports to the cultural ministry.

The LRMH has a team of 34 agents, including 23 scientists organised in 9 thematic departments dedicated to special materials or special types of works of art. The ornated caves, stained glass, metal, concrete, walls painting and stone departments are exclusively bound to work on historical buildings. The wood, textile and microbiology departments are called « interdisciplinary » and work also on objects. Those 9 departments complete the cultural heritage science skills of the cultural ministry that depend also on the C2RMF that has the same sort of expertise as the LRMH but for the museums objects. The scientists who work in the LRMH are physicians, chemists, biochemists or material engineers. On top of their academic training, they acquire while working at the LRMH a special expertise and a great experience in the field of cultural heritage materials conservation. They become conservation scientists. They have a national public agent status.

The direction of the laboratory is led by a director and a deputy director who are both curators. A secretarial work guarantees the « support » functions as well as reception and surveillance of the premises.

There is also a Resources Center. Its mission is to enhance, preserve and spread the knowledge of the laboratory. This departement handles the SYNAPSE webportal. The center is also involved in research activities around data harmonization and structuration. It is made up of two agents who are documentary researchers.

The main associates of the LRMH are the professionnals of cultural heritage preservation inside the french administration (DRAC, ACMH, CRMH). They are those who make requests to the laboratory via the digital request file. On intervention, the LRMH scientists may also work together with restorers and help them in their approaches while developping together innovatives processes to protect historical buildings.

Other instutionnal partners work with the LRMH inside research projects.

LRMHs primary goal is to provide scientific and technical help to conservation and restoration works on historical buildings, whether they are buildings, decorative ensembles or movable objects.  The laboratory answers to that fundamental mission by giving scientific orientations to prime contractors, by leading scientifics studies on the historical buildings that are owned by the government and by being part of research projects on cultural heritage cosnervation.

Research activity at the LRMH follow three main themes :

• Knowledge of constituent materials of historical buildings and their alteration mecanisms
• Optimization or evaluation of conservation and restoration techniques and products
• Development of new scientific instrumentations, usable on the field and as non-invasive as possible

Apart from researches on its own collections, the LRMH is regularly involved in national (ANR, national research program on cultural heritage conservation, DIM MAP), european and international projects.

It is a member of two « laboratoires d’excellence » (LabEx) : MATISSE, directed by the university Pierre and Marie Curie and PATRIMA, directed by the Fundation for Cultural Heritage Sciences (FSP) and dedicated to research on cultural heritage materials. The laboratory co-manage a platform of mobile equipments developped inside a « Equipement d’excellence » (EquipEX PATRIMEX).