Peabody Essex Maritime Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum near Boston is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States. Moshe Safdie's major expansion of the museum is anchored by an atrium that sits at the new core of the museum. This strikingly curved glass arcade forms the spine of the new wing and unifies the old and new spaces in the museum. For this project, Safdie specified a custom designed, integrated system of Sail Shades from Hunter Douglas Architectural. Precisely draped fabrics recreate the historic shapes of ships' sails. Following the wave-like curves of the skylight glazing, automated horizontal tensioned shades furl and unfurl uniformly to filter light entering the space.