Metropolitan Museum of Art Skylight
Architect: Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates
Location: New York, New York
The renovation of the Greek and Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art involved the removal of an existing roof above the exhibit space, raising it to increase the ceiling height and creating a translucent glass roof. An intricate collaborative process with the architect Kevin Roche resulted in a steel arched structure comprised of parallel slender built up curved plate beams with cross bracing to minimize the visual presence of the structure. A two-way, segmented, aluminum framed skylight with integral condensation gutters was point-attached to the top cord of the radiused arch “ribs” to create the weather barrier. The glass panels are tempered laminated insulating units with a low-e coating and a translucent ceramic frit. The skylight was installed from 5th Avenue with a 300 ton hydraulic crane due to the large boom length needed to reach the center of the opening at the south east corner of the Museum. The renewed gallery space experience was greatly enhanced by this transformative architecture.
“I've had the privilege and great pleasure of working with Franz Safford for over three decades now. Franz is a skilled and creative problem solver as well as a true innovator, all amply evidenced by the many remarkable facades completed worldwide with his VS1 system. His greatest strength is sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with an architect and sketching through a facade solution to a demanding project requirement. But his commitment to a design doesn't stop there, he invariably drives any project he's involved with through to a successful completion. Franz is simply the best building partner I've ever worked with.”
