Glazing on the St James Hospital Pyramid Skylight Needs Replacing
A large 28 foot by 28 foot pyramid skylight sits over the atrium of the St James Hospital in Chicago Heights, IL. The acrylic glazing has aged considerably over it’s lifetime and has become brittle and lost performance in all aspects. This has increased heating and cooling costs and the skylight could break any time. The owners needed a solution, so they contacted us.
Quadwall Retrofit
After a consult, we decided that retrofitting the existing framework with CPI Daylight’s Quadwall product would be the best solution. Quadwall offers great performance and light transmission, but diffuses the light, reducing glare. It’s also very durable, and does not decay in daylight like acrylic does. It can be custom fit, so it does not need an expensive new frame, saving us and the hospital both money and time.
There were some challenges, as a lighting rod and cables were attached near the skylight. We removed them, and then a licensed subcontractor re-installed them for proper performance. The installation had no issues and went ahead on schedule and budget.
The finished product now performs much better than the old acrylic domes:
- better insulation
- better light transmittance
- reduced hot spots
- reduced glare
- decreased energy loss or heat gain
- better energy efficiency
- saves money on heating, cooling, and lighting
- looks better
Read the full project here: