October 7, 2022 • By Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu

The skylight frames were hoisted into place with a crane, half a frame at a time.

What had originally been designed as light wells for the original Alderman Library are turning into skylit study courts and presentation halls.

For several weeks, Kevin O’Donnell of Vector Constructs of Wichita, Kansas, and Jose Sanchez, along with the workers on the Alderman Library renovation, have been assembling and installing 47- by 31-foot skylights in both the east and west courtyards of the Depression-era library.

Workers assembled the 17,000-pound skylight frames on the ground before a crane lifted them and nestled them into place. After workers secured the frames and placed concrete around the edges, they installed the 40 glass panes, each roughly 6 by 8 feet – by affixing suction cups to the 900-pound panes and hoisting them into place with a crane.

The 1938 courtyards were originally designed as light shafts to bring sunlight into the interior of Alderman Library. They will still bring light into the library, but they will be converted into usable interior spaces where students can study. Each study room, to be accessed from the second floor, will be about two stories high, with moveable planters and furniture so the spaces can be used for presentations and events.

Several of the existing second-floor windows have been turned into doorways to give students easy access to the courtyards. The ground floors of each shaft are being turned into much-needed office space.

The renovation, which will upgrade the library’s safety and HVAC systems, add study space for students, and house over 1 million books in open stacks will create a University Avenue-facing entrance and increase access to Clemons Library, is scheduled to be completed in late fall of 2023.

University News Associate Office of University Communications