St. Louis, Missouri

THE PROJECT
Guarantee Electrical Company (GECO) served the team led by Tarlton Corporation, together with architect, Christner Inc. in supplying electrical and communications services to the 7,000-square-foot restoration of Henry Shaw’s original Library and Museum.  The goal was to modernize the building while achieve near perfect alignment with the original 1859 design by St. Louis architect George I. Barrett, who also designed the nearby Tower Grove House together with Shaw’s mausoleum located on garden grounds.

OUR APPROACH
Working closely with architect, Christner Inc. and Tarlton’s construction team, GECO’s craftsmen took enormous care to protect the newly discovered ceiling frescoes.  To handle the challenge, a wall-to-wall platform was erected in the two-story space to enable workers to be physically proximate to ceiling surfaces without having to manage working in exhaustive detail at a dangerous height.  These measures enhanced safety, and helped the electricians as well, who were thereby able to make minor incisions to access and remove the disconnected wiring from the walls and woodwork encircling the space.

OUR WORK
Within the prevailing spirit of painstaking restoration, close coordination of activity in the space and clear communications were paramount, especially atop the catwalk where so much of the “concealment” of sensors and lighting fixtures had to be accomplished.  Clashes between trades were avoided entirely through careful “Look Ahead” planning, and by frequent, detailed person-to-person communications. While the project was not specifically “Lean” in formal structure, lean principles of collaboration were indispensable.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Guarantee supplied 21st Century lighting (direct and indirect) wiring, control systems and communications to Henry Shaw’s original 1859 Library & Museum.
• Project required painstaking removal of the original fixtures and wiring, refurbishing and restoring with placement of advanced, custom LED lamps in those original fixtures.
• Installed an advanced ABL Lighting Control System whose equipment and architecture were concealed in the woodwork supporting the catwalk above the cabinetry on the main floor, with additional infrastructure and componentry in the basement.
• The addition of contemporary indirect lighting fixtures hidden from view by the cabinetry and other means were especially noteworthy for lighting of priceless ceiling frescoes that were discovered during demolition and restored in the renovation.

PROJECT SUCCESS
Among the most significant historic buildings in St. Louis has been fully renovated and open to the public, fully restored to its original elegance. The Stephen & Peter Sachs Museum has rapidly become a new and compelling exhibit space for some of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s rarest artifacts and most compelling presentations.

For Guarantee Electrical Company the project success can also be defined by this project being named a finalist for an AGC Missouri Construction Keystone Award