Last week I was able to squeeze in one last visit to the Museum of Fine Arts before security became so tight that I wouldn’t be allowed inside until I could enter as a paying customer sometime in 2010.  After working on this project for almost 5 years, it gave me a thrill to see art arriving in crates and in multiple pieces.

There were many design elements on this project that required a lot of negotiation, research, and eventually some compromise in order to be code-compliant and functional, while still meeting the aesthetic intent.  One of these areas of negotiation was the elevator lobby design, which required the entire area to be clad in stainless steel panels with a special finish.

My first response was that the fire-rated stairwell doors couldn’t be fully-clad with stainless steel due to the limits on protective plates, but we eventually found a door manufacturer that could apply the cladding according to their UL listings.  The Von Duprin Inpact device was powder coated to match, and you can see the end result below.

MFA SS1

MFA SS2 MFA SS3

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