Hampton Court’s historic Swiss Chalet will be lifted up by 2m as part of a £1.4m restoration project and the addition of a new basement floor on September 19.

The 150-year-old listed building, shipped from Switzerland in 1882, will be jacked up from the floodplain in 100mm increments by Dutch engineering firm Mammoet, with the preparation and lifting alone costing £200,000.

Mammoet site manager Chris Wilson said: "We do huge scale projects all the time, but this one is very unique.

"The trickiest part is the initial lift, but fortunately the building is very structurally sound and the materials the chalet is made of are very stable."