Yale University, Connecticut
The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University. Built in the prevailing gothic revival style of the campus in 1932, and designed by architect John Russell Pope, the building has a Gothic tower, third-floor swimming pool, a polo practice room, and a rooftop running track. It was donated by John Hay Whitney in honor of his father, Payne. The building is glazed with a series of steel windows: casements, awnings, and fixed sash of varying sizes. There is a series of stone set Gothic tracery panels at the top of the tower. All of the sash are glazed with leaded glass. Femenella & Associates was contracted to fully restore the steel sash and frames and replicate the leaded glass.
In many locations, the leaded panels were installed from the interior. Some of these windows were covered over when alterations were done to the interior. We had to develop means and methods to remove existing panels and install the replicated panels with access from the exterior only.
The fencing room required control of transmitted light through the leaded glass without changing the exterior aesthetic of the window. We designed a unique system comprised of tempered glass and applied films. This change also necessitated design changes to the operating system.
The eight large stone-set Gothic tracery windows, while similar, were all a bit different, requiring 168 unique templates. Working with a laser scan expert, we developed methods resulting in accurate templates in 1/3 the time.