Guardian Bastille completed a two-part window film installation at the McCormack Building, a Massachusetts state office tower in Boston’s Government Center — protecting the ground-floor lobby with blast-resistant film and improving comfort across roughly 100,000 square feet of tenant office space with 3M solar film.
Two Film Systems, One Government Office Tower
Located at the edge of Boston’s Government Center, near the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Cambridge Street facility and just blocks from City Hall and the State House, the McCormack Building is a fixture of the city’s downtown government district — a heavily trafficked office tower serving state agencies and the public they work with every day. That mix of a public, street-level lobby and roughly 100,000 square feet of occupied office space above called for two different film systems, matched to two different jobs.
Lobby: Solargard Armorcoat 10 Mil Clear Blast-Resistant Film
The ground-floor lobby’s street-facing glass was fitted with Solargard Armorcoat 10 Mil clear blast-resistant film, engineered to hold glass fragments together and resist forced entry in the event of an explosive blast or attempted break-in — an appropriate upgrade for a public-facing state government lobby at street level. Guardian Bastille secured the film’s edges with a mechanical batten bar attachment system, bolting a metal bar over the perimeter of the film to anchor it to the frame rather than relying on adhesive alone — a more robust hold designed to keep the film engaged with the frame under blast pressure.
Tenant Floors: 3M LE20SIAR Solar Window Film
Above the lobby, the tower’s office floors carry the same floor-to-ceiling glass exposure common to mid-century government buildings — significant solar heat gain and glare across south- and west-facing curtain wall, driving up HVAC demand and making desks near the windows uncomfortable. Guardian Bastille applied 3M LE20SIAR window film across roughly 100,000 square feet of tenant glass to reject solar heat and cut glare year-round, delivering consistent energy savings and comfort for the state employees working across the tower’s floors.
Performance Benefits
Blast & Forced-Entry Protection — Solargard Armorcoat 10 Mil clear film with a mechanical batten bar edge attachment holds glass together and resists forced entry at the street-level lobby.
Solar Heat Rejection — 3M LE20SIAR reduces heat gain across 100,000 sq ft of tenant glass, easing HVAC load and lowering cooling costs.
Glare Reduction — Cuts glare at workstations near the windows, improving visibility on screens and reducing eye strain for state employees.
UV Protection — Blocks up to 99% of UV rays, protecting interior furnishings and finishes from fading.
Project Scope
As an occupied, multi-tenant state government building in active daily use, the installation was scheduled and sequenced to keep disruption to a minimum — the lobby’s blast film and batten bar work completed around public hours, and the tenant-floor solar film applied floor by floor across the full 100,000-square-foot scope while state operations continued uninterrupted.
Results
- Blast-resistant, forced-entry-resistant glass at the street-level public lobby
- Reduced solar heat gain across 100,000 sq ft of tenant office glass
- Lower cooling costs and reduced HVAC strain
- Reduced glare at workstations near windows
- 99% UV protection for interior furnishings
- Installation completed with no disruption to state operations
Commercial and Government Window Film in Massachusetts
Guardian Bastille delivers both security/blast film and solar control film for state and municipal government buildings, courthouses, and office towers across Massachusetts and New England. Contact us to discuss window film for your facility. Learn more at 3M.com.
