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Pilkington Activ™ is the Clear Choice for U.S. Museum

The designers of a major new paleontological museum housing one of the world's largest collections of fossils have chosen, in contrast, one of the modern world's innovative solutions for the building: Pilkington Activ™ self-cleaning glass. The Museum of the Earth, which recently opened to the public in Ithaca, New York State, incorporates both Pilkington Activ™ and low-e glasses as part of a central architectural theme: looking through and learning from history.

Built and run by the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), the Museum of the Earth occupies an 18,000 sq ft site adjacent to the present PRI complex in Ithaca, New York. The Museum, which highlights over 650 specimens from the USA's largest fossil collection in addition to many other exhibits, has quickly become a major tourist attraction as well as a significant educational and cultural centre. Curators anticipate that the Museum, which tells the story of the 4.6 billion year history of the Earth, will rapidly achieve its goal of attracting 50,000 - 60,000 visitors a year to the site.

The surroundings of the Museum of the Earth have a rich geological heritage: Ithaca, in upstate New York, sits among the state's renowned Finger Lakes, which were carved out as massive ice sheets that receded 20,000 years ago. The region features spectacular waterfall gorges that consistently reveal millions of years of geological history and expose a wealth of fossils. Celebrated New York architectural firm Weiss/Manfredi wanted to reflect this heritage in the design of the new building, which was featured in the Cooper Hewitt Museum's ‘Design Culture Now’ triennial last year and short-listed for many other design awards.

Speaking to James Russell, a journalist writing for respected US magazine Architectural Record, Partner Marion Weiss commented:
‘The six acre PRI site is located on a hill that slopes downward towards Cayuga Lake and is part of a landscape that was radically shaped by water and glaciation. Giving this idea form, helping to make it [the museum] visible, seemed a way to make the design intrinsically powerful. The aim is to put visitors in touch with the physical reality of geology, preparing them for the historical exhibits on display inside.’

The Museum is organised into two parallel and interconnected buildings containing three main 'worlds': The Devonian World, Triassic-Jurassic World and Quaternary World. Both buildings make extensive use of Pilkington glass for their exterior facades, with around 6000 sq ft having been used in total for the project. Aluminium curtain-walling installed by glazing contractor Cortland Glass of Cortland, NY contains insulating glass units with Pilkington Activ™ glass on the exterior and Pilkington Energy Advantage™ low-e glass on the interior. Floral Glass of Hauppauge, NY, processed all glazing for the project.

Pilkington Activ™ was chosen for the project as a solution that greatly reduces maintenance for the Museum, says Matt Miner, Project Manager with Cortland Glass:
‘The design of the building features an overhanging roof in some areas, so not all the glass is as exposed to the elements as it could be, but the Museum's designers still believed that using Pilkington Activ™ would greatly reduce maintenance even in those areas because all it needs is an occasional light hosing to keep it clean. We've had excellent feedback from the Museum and they are particularly delighted with the performance of the Pilkington Activ™ glass.’

Developed in the UK by Pilkington and launched following extensive laboratory and field testing, Pilkington Activ™ literally keeps itself clean by harnessing the two natural elements of ultra violet light and rain. The technology uses UV light to break down organic dirt deposits on the glass, then uses the rain to wash the dirt away.

Web: http://www.pilkington.com