New England Sun Control installed Solar Gard Panorama Hilite 70 window film across 15,000 square feet of glass at Brown University’s John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library — affectionately known on campus as “The Rock.” This is a separate project and a separate film system from our John Carter Brown Library installation, matched to a very different building.
A 1970s Film Reaching the End of Its Life
The Rock is a seven-floor public library built in the late 1960s with 300 punch windows designed to capture passive solar heat gain in cooler months. We originally applied a bronze 3M Scotchtint film to the building in the 1970s to help manage the heat load, replacing it as needed over the years that followed.
By the time Brown’s project manager, Jeffrey Parker, brought us back in, the original 1970s film was fading, allowing excessive heat into the space, and beginning to peel — an aging look University officials wanted to move away from without the substantial expense of replacing all 300 windows.
Solar Gard Panorama Hilite 70 — Clear, Comfortable, True to the Architecture
As design standards shifted toward maximizing natural daylighting in commercial and academic spaces, the original dark reflective film no longer fit the goal. We specified Solar Gard Panorama Hilite 70, a spectrally selective film that layers trace amounts of precious metals — gold, silver, and titanium — to selectively block infrared heat while letting natural daylight wavelengths pass through almost unreflective.
The result: the library’s windows went from admitting just 20% of the sun’s daylight to 70%, while still keeping The Rock cool and comfortable for the students, faculty, and visitors who use it. The film also preserves the original 1960s architectural design Brown wanted to keep intact, rather than alligator-ing and peeling the way the old film had.
“Solar Gard Panorama window film saved us from having to completely replace the 300 punch windows that make up the Rock, and that could have been a substantial expense for the University. I can honestly say that this window film project has resulted in more positive compliments from faculty, staff, students and visitors at the University than any other project. Everyone loves being able to see clearly.”
Jeffrey Parker, Project Manager, Brown University
“Gone are the days of purple, peeling and distracting window film for Brown’s library. University officials realized the benefits of window film back in the ’70s, but today they understand the importance of having a sophisticated, unobtrusive film to provide endless benefits all year long.”
Richard Eannarino, President, New England Sun Control
Project Summary
- Problem: fading, excessive heat, peeling old film
- Solution: Solar Gard Panorama Hilite 70
- Amount of film: 15,000 square feet
- Benefits: preserves historic collections and furnishings, reduces hot spots and maintains a comfortable work environment, preserves original architectural design
Read the full Solar Gard success story on this project below.
