This is a tracing made from one of Pugin's original 'Estimates Drawings'. After Charles Barry won the competition in 1836 for the new Houses of Parliament, many revisions were made to his plans, and then drawings were prepared so that a detailed estimate of the building could be made.

Pugin helped in this work between August 1836 and January 1837 and the original drawing from the House of Lords was almost certainly made in October 1836. These designs are now mostly known through the tracings that were made by assistants working in Barry's office of whom John Gibson was one. It seems clear that in his drawings, mostly for the interiors, Pugin was making his designs within the framework of Barry's plan. Although little of this work was ever used in the building as it was executed several years later, it is of considerable interest in the context of the development of Pugin's own style.

The design of the interior shows four-light windows on all sides of the Chamber. There is a cove to the panelled ceiling, which, with its carved frieze, Dieu et mon Droit, is close to what was finally executed. There is no gallery, but a cove above the panelled lower half of the room. The splendidly exuberant design of the canopy to the throne, with its ogee arch and knobbly detail, is typical of the young Pugin and has strong similarities with his contemporary work at Scarisbrick Hall.

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) is widely considered as one of the most significant and influential architects, designers and theorists of the 19th century. Following his conversion to Catholicism in 1835, he identified the Gothic style with Christian architecture and his work and writings inspired and framed the Gothic Revival. In 'Contrasts', published in 1836, he condemned classical forms and ardently praised 14th and 15th-century architecture. Pugin is best remembered for his work on the Palace of Westminster.