Brooklyn, New York
James Hartford, project manager for James R. Gainfort, Consulting Architects.
James R. Gainfort Consulting Architects was hired to plan the restoration of the glass floor in the Beaux Arts Courtyard of the museum, designed by McKim, Meade and White in 1929. This courtyard still serves as a ballroom, and brings natural light to the gallery below. The many years of abuse have taken their toll, however, leaving many of the floor’s glass tiles broken.
The floor contains approximately 240 pre-cast concrete panels, each one holding 25 cast glass tiles set in narrow, reinforced concrete ribs. This fully integrated glass-and-rib assembly acts as a flat arch, through which loads are distributed laterally from each panel to the floor’s primary structural beams and girders. The breaking glass was gradually weakening the structural system.
James Hartford researched glass manufacturers and located a workshop that has the ability to produce the glass tiles by hand, and worked with the technicians there to match the color and design, and to replicate the original manufacturing process. He also worked with skilled workmen to train them to cut out broken glass tiles, repair structural damage to the concrete ribs, and to set the new tiles into the floor. The repair protocol developed by James is now in place for the Museum to restore the floor to its original brilliance.
