Grunley Construction Company, Inc.’s Post

Hey there, it’s ConstructSean, and I’m back to take you on another interactive tour of Grunley project sites! Join me for my brand-new series, “One-Liners with ConstructSean,” where we’ll shake things up and discover fun facts about Grunley’s projects along the way. Follow me! Today, I’m visiting the George Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University, nestled within Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. The library, which has been described as a “cathedral of books,” opened in 1878 and is often regarded as one of the most beautiful library spaces in the world! Its neo-Grec interior boasts six tiers of cast-iron columns, decorative railings and classical embellishments touched with gold leaf, all guiding the eye from the black-and-white marble floor to the jaw-dropping glass laylight and decorative ceiling. A complex network of iron trusses above the laylight —virtually invisible to visitors below—spans the library space and supports the skylight above. When the modern hollow-core polycarbonate exterior skylight over the atrium of the library’s stack room began to fail due to age and ultraviolet deterioration, Grunley was chosen to perform the $1.25 million renovation. The project, completed in 2017, included structural enhancements to the original cast iron trusses; installation of four new catwalks, including trolley fall protection systems; and full replacement of the existing skylight system, breathed life back into the library all while it remained fully operational. We hope you enjoyed today’s stop and that you follow along to see where ConstructSean visits next time!

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