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Weatherizing Old Windows From the Colonial Era
Insulating Old Windows for a Historic Castle

Protecting Historic Windows at Alcatraz

  • Indow protected historic windows at Alcatraz
  • indow window commercial alcatraz

What can you do when historic windows are literally the only thing stopping a major art exhibition at a national landmark? Protecting historic windows suddenly becomes part of your art show planning!

Indow Does Time At Alcatraz

When internationally-celebrated artist Ai Weiwei was planning his exhibition at Alcatraz Island, he wanted the audience to view his work through the historic gun gallery windows of the New Industries Building where inmates folded laundry. Designated a federal penitentiary in 1933, Alcatraz incarcerated some of the nation’s worst criminals, isolating them on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Now a National Historic Landmark, Alcatraz draws 1.3 million visitors annually to walk the weathered grounds and view the cells of condemned men long gone like Al Capone and George “Machine-Gun” Kelly.

Ai Weiwei’s desire to have the public view his art from the same perspective formerly used by the gun-carrying guards presented the exhibition organizer, the For-Site Foundation, with a tough challenge. To open this part of Alcatraz to the public, the National Park Service required FOR-SITE to protect the historic windows full of broken glass, both to preserve the historic building and safely shield the audience.

Protecting Historic Windows with Window Inserts

protecting historic windows with window inserts

The solution couldn’t leave a nail hole or mark. So FOR-SITE turned to Indow and its window inserts edged in a silicone Compression Tube that press into place. But the company then faced a challenge of its own: it doesn’t make an insert as large as the 24-foot gun gallery’s historic window frames. 

In response, Indow developed a removable window mullion that uses a pressure fitting to stay in place. Up to two of these removable window mullions were used to subdivide each window. FOR-SITE selected Indow’s Commercial Grade inserts for the project at Alcatraz because the extra-abrasion resistant surface could stand up to the extra wear they would receive as hundreds of thousands of visitors passed by. The view of Ai WeiWei’s artwork was undisturbed because the Commercial Grade acrylic is just as crystal clear as our Standard Grade inserts.

Learn more about Indow’s Commercial Grade window inserts>>>

 

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Customer Stories

Learn from our customers how Indow inserts have increased their comfort, quiet, and savings.

  • Indow vs. Replacement Windows

    • Indow Featured on This Old House
    • Saying No to Window Replacement
    • Double Pane Failure in Lake Ontario
    • Creating A More Cozy Reading Nook
  • Drafts

    • A Frank Lloyd Wright Home Rids Drafts in Chicago
    • A Comfortable Cottage in Portland, OR
    • Simple Invention (Video)
    • Queen Anne Transformation in Indiana
  • Indow vs. Storm Windows

    • A Historic Home that Refused Exterior Storms
    • Vermont Log Cabin Comfort
    • Astoria Bungalow Storm Window Replacement
  • Quiet

    • Attaining Quiet in Portland, OR
    • Hushing Historic Florida Windows
    • Rental Makeover in Salem, MA
  • Commercial Projects

    • Preserving the Historic Oregon Governor’s Mansion
    • Soundproofing Wavy Glass Windows for Hotel in Portland Old Town
    • Creating Quiet Luxury for a Boutique Hotel in Nantucket
    • Bowdoin College's Arched Chapel Windows
    • UV Protection for Union County Museum
    • Indow Does Time at Alcatraz
    • Church Sanctuary Restoration
    • Train Noise vs. Indow Inserts
    • Office Soundproofing in Historic District
  • Energy Efficiency

    • Solving Window Problems in Washington DC
    • Blocking Drafts & Noise in NYC
    • US Department of Energy Study in Seattle
  • Historic Preservation

    • Saving a Castle's Historic Windows in New Jersey
    • An 1860 Ohio Home That Refused Exterior Storms
    • Supreme Court Justice's Georgia Home
    • Warming a Colonial Home in New Hampshire
    • Relief (Video)
    • Making Mid Century Modern Windows in Texas Last
  • Relief from Intense Sunlight

    • Protecting Artwork From Damaging UV Rays
    • Blocking Window Solar Heat Gain in New Mexico
    • Nightshift Worker Blocks the Sun For Daytime Sleep
    • Relief from Intense Summer Heat in an 1881 Victorian Inn
  • Privacy

    • Privacy for Urban Dwellers in Cincinnati
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Indow Inserts on This Old House: The Right Storm Insert for Unusual Windows.

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