Two years ago, we moved a number of offices out of a large area of the
museum and removed all the interior partitions. Each "long" side of the
area, through which visitors pass on their way to and from some of the
galleries, has large windows, allowing a LOT of light to come in. We split
the space into two, along the length of the space, with a floor to ceiling
wall to wall clear glass partition dividing them.

The larger of the two spaces has become a small art gallery which has a
larger open area along the side adjacent to the partition, to encourage
visitor flow.. We erected a false wall to block all exterior light from the
windows on that side of the floor.

The other, smaller space became a "discovery room", a bright, colourful area
where children could have a "hands-on" experience with items from Canada's
military past. One of the acrtivities in this area was a mockup of a UN
observation post, which makes use of one of the large windows.

As we did not want to block up any of the windows on this side, the only
solution was to place a layer of UV blocking film to completely cover the
huge glass partition, with its two large glass doors. This has eliminated
virtually all the UV light entering the art gallery area. It darkens the
partition somewhat, but all the colourful exhibits and people having fun
inside are still visible to anyone walking by and they are drawn into the
area. The partition is sufficiently dark and soundproof, however, that
anything going on in the Discovery Room does not disturb other visitors'
enjoment of the art.

It has been a very successful experiment, though I did have the very devil
of a job convincing the high-priced help in our parent corporation that a
full height and length transparent wall was essential to success. However,
without the film, it would not have worked.

Harry Needham
Special Advisor - Programme Development
Canadian War Museum
330 Sussex Drive,
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0M8
Voice: (819) 776-8612  Fax (819) 776-8623
Email: [log in to unmask]

> ----------
> From:         Cynthia Sutton[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Museum discussion list
> Sent:         Wednesday, February 03, 1999 10:57 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: UV fillm on windows
>
> I am also interested in this thread...our Visitor's Center is located in a
> historic building......a general store with  huge windows  in the
> storefront......we need to do something to protect the interior
> displays....any suggestions would be appreciated!
>
> Cynthia Sutton
> Center for American Archeology
>