Glazing Upgrade at Frank Lloyd Wright's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The paper presents more than a dozen options considered to address the undesirable effects of seasonal condensation at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggeneim Museum in New York. These options followed two main approaches, repair and replacement. The pros and cons of each approach will be presented, as well as the selected replacement option with an uprecedented custom-made thermally-broken steel frame system matching the exterior appearance of the original glazing. The energy models devised for the proposed replacement systems, using software by the Windows & Daylighting Group from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, are presented. Innovative construction details prepared by the Architect and selected manufacturers to build the thermally broken systems as well as the results of the comparative testing of such systems.