Located in a former warehouse in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, the Conservation Center’s 25,000-square-foot laboratory is designed to best facilitate the important work of restoring and preserving art. Individual workspaces for conservators are designed to be as functional and user-friendly as possible by accommodating the specific tools and technologies required by each medium. Furniture and additional finishes enhance the raw beauty of the existing space—particularly its 16-foot ceilings and arched windows, which provide excellent natural light for detailed restoration tasks and contribute to a pleasurable working environment.
A geothermal HVAC system controls temperature and humidity throughout the LEED-certified facility, which also includes a large-scale photography room for UV analysis of damaged works; a washing station, wet cleaning room, and several humidification stations for restoring works on paper; and a contained triage room for the biological reparation of items such as rare books, textiles, and frames.