Case Study: Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Sunnyvale, CA

At The Framer’s Workshop we specialize in solving unique framing challenges. We think outside the box and take time to work through solutions to complex structural issues.

When Mercedes-Benz Research & Development of Sunnyvale, CA, needed to add both UV and physical protection to an original Andy Warhol on canvas, they called on us to devise a solution.

The canvas was originally framed in a floater frame with no glazing. It was subsequently installed in the Mercedes-Benz elevator lobby with an alarm system that protected it from theft, but did not protect it from damaging UV light or physical harm.

The obvious solution would have been to take the framed canvas off the wall, deliver it to our Berkeley workshop, and install acrylic over the top of the existing floater, using a white cap frame to hold the acrylic in place. (See Photoshop visualized proposal detail below, left.)

We proposed this and other options* and generated Photoshop visualizations of the proposals to illustrate them but eventually created a solution that left the art and frame on the wall as requested.

An acrylic box frame was made from Optium Museum Acrylic and we devised 1” wide acrylic flanges that held the box frame to the wall without having to remove the art and existing frame.

Abrasion resistant Optium Museum Acrylic (Illustration, right) is the ideal solution for protecting large, valuable works of art from UV light and physical damage while simultaniously reducing unwanted glare from lighting sources.

* Other possible solutions to glaze a painting already framed with a floater frame:

1. Use a cap moulding to fit over the floater frame that would hold the acrylic in place.
2. Have an acrylic box made to slip over the existing frame. This box could be attached to the sides of the existing frame with screws.
1. Have an acrylic box made that would curl under the back of the existing frame and attach the box to that frame from the rear.
2. Remove the existing floater frame and reframe the canvas with spacers or a liner, elevating the new acrylic off the painting’s surface.

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development: continuously strives to remain at the forefront of successful automotive research and development in North America. Key areas of focus include creating a digital design language for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, designing in-car instruments, hardware/software interfaces for the truly digital car, and connecting cars to the cloud and mobile devices.

ABOVE: Installation view of completed project: Protective Optium Museum Acrylic box frame around Andy Warhol's "Mercedes-Benz," print on canvas.	ABOVE: Installation view showing acrylic mount detail of completed project: Protective Optium Museum Acrylic box around Andy Warhol's "Mercedes-Benz," print on canvas.
ABOVE: Alternate Visualization (detail) of larger white box frame built around existing, white "floater" frame with an Optium Museum acylic glazing between the two frames.	ABOVE: Installation view of completed project from the right.