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Saturday, 26 February 2011 05:26

Brooklyn Museum completes first phase of renovation

Brooklyn Museum completes first phase of renovation Photo By John Baer-PDM Pictures

The Brooklyn Museum in New York has completed an extensive renovation of its Great Hall which will be unveiled on 4 March 2011, marking the first phase of the transformative project.

The project, which is the initial phase of a major redesign of the first floor, marks the most transformative change to the floor ever since it was first constructed. The renovated space has been redesigned by Ennead Architects, defined by a dense grid of classical columns and 24-foot-high ceilings.

The initial phase of renovation features the expansive, two-storey-high colonnaded space with its original coffered glass-block ceiling. The room originally served as a space to house museum's holdings of pre-Columbian, Native American, and Oceanic art. Designed to form the core of a series of galleries, the space now features four freestanding walls, which define a central gallery. The renovation has also created a new South Gallery, restoring to public use an area previously used for back-of-house functions.

The new freestanding walls allow for the display of art while concealing climate-control systems within. Their crisp, diagonal edges facilitate and reinforce movement from the Lobby into the Great Hall. The central gallery features a new terrazzo floor. The entire gallery volume has been technically upgraded to become a state-of-the-art museum environment, complete with new sprinkler and lighting systems.

The lighting, designed by the Renfro Design Group, features a flexible track system integrated into the historic coffered ceiling, with LED lighting in the central bay. Natural light filters down to the Great Hall through glass-block ceiling, which forms the floor of the Beaux-Arts Court.

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