The installation of solar control window films on fine art museums and libraries housing rare art and books has been going on for several decades. However, more recently, as the quality of the solar control films has improved and the significance of preserving fine art and historical books and manuscripts.

 

Over the past 30 years, Commercial Window shield has been at the forefront of solar control window film installation on some of the country’s most famous museums and libraries.

 

In the early 1980s, officials at the country’s most famous art museum, the National Museum of Art, asked Commercial Window Shied to correct an improperly installed solar control window film by another company. The project involved installing solar control film on the top floor of the gallery’s East Wing to diminish the sun rays coming into the cafeteria and a hallway. The project was a success and led to other projects at the art museum over the years. Those projects involved installing solar control film on windows to protect artwork and other exhibits. Challenging heating and lightening situations required creative planning on the part of Commercial Window Shield engineers on many of the projects.

 

Over the years, the National Gallery staff relied on the company to solve these problems. Among the more successful projects, Commercial Window Shield designed a special shading system on the windows that could be altered depending on the amount of light required for certain exhibits.

 

Another prestigious solar control window film project involved the former Corcoran Museum in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the White House. In the 1980s, the museum, which housed a 17,000-piece art collection, was a facing a sun control issue and officials were concerned about the impact of the sun on the some of the paintings artwork related to fading colors. As it had with other museums with similar issues, Commercial Window Shield developed a solar control solution by protecting the museums windows by installing a sun control window film that sharply diminished ultra violet rays coming into the gallery.

 

In one of its more unique projects involving protecting fine art and books, Yale University officials were concerned that the condition of 180,000 rare books housed in its Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library was deteriorating because of sunlight seeping in through the building windows. Commercial Window Shield was retained to install a clear solar control film on 48 windows, which diffused 99.9 percent of the ultraviolet sunlight rays. At the same time, the film allowed natural daylight to filter into the building, providing the best of both worlds – solar protection and natural light.

 

In another unique project involving an art museum that demonstrated Commercial Window Shield’s ability to come up with creative solutions to complicated projects, the company was tasked by the Torpedo Factory in suburban Washington, D.C. to not only install solar control window film but first repair the windows..

 

Specifically, Commercial Window Shield removed old, outdated roller shades and replaced then with new ones. The company also replaced all broken glass before installing and solar control film and vinyl graphics installed on the windows.

 

The building, formerly a torpedo manufacturing plant, was built before WWII and is a three-story concrete warehouse that now houses an art center The windows are large, with individual windows covering two floors. The sheer size of these windows made the installation challenging. The window openings were not uniform, so a careful measuring and numbering system had to be used to ensure the correct shade went on the correct window.

 

Further complicating the project, artists occupy the entire building and valuable sculptures, paintings, crystal and pottery fill nearly every space. So coordinating the artists’ schedules with those of the installers was a critical component of the project. The result was a successful installation that was carried out with little disruption among the building’s tenants.

 

Commercial Window Shield expects more sun control window film installation projects emerge in the near future as museums and libraries aggressively work to protect their fine art and rare manuscripts.