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 >