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Photo © Ron Blunt Photography

Quinn Evans Architects (QEA) to perform renovations and Also notable among QEA’s many preservation efforts at DAR
restorations throughout the complex. are the Constitution Hall lobby and adjacent President General’s
One of the city’s most spectacular interiors, the genealogical Reception Room. Designed by John Russell Pope and built in 1929,
library in Memorial Continental Hall was originally designed as an Constitution Hall hosts DAR’s annual convention as well as
auditorium for DAR’s annual convention. This grand double-height concerts throughout the year. The U-shaped lobby has a shallow
space with a mezzanine is capped by an 1,800-square-foot decorative vaulted ceiling punctuated by rosette light fixtures and plaster
lay light, which filters daylight from the skylit attic above. In 2011, medallions depicting angels.
DAR experienced two scares in quick succession: decorative metal The light fixtures were refinished in bronze and retrofitted
pieces from the central lay light fell 46 feet to the floor below, and with dimmable LEDs that can be programmed to display multiple
then the August 23 earthquake struck. Miraculously, none of the colors. Successive layers of paint were carefully stripped from the
glass panels was lost. low-relief plaster medallions. Paint and textile colors in the restoration
DAR quickly moved forward with QEA’s recommendations were inspired by the existing Edward Fields carpet in the
for restoring the central and two adjacent lay lights. Twenty-seven President General’s Reception Room.
individual panels were painstakingly removed and shipped to
Brooklyn for restoration. Replicas were fabricated for the grooved The renovation of the DAR complex was previously published in the
metal framing pieces (cames) supporting the glass; 90% of the Fall 2016 issue of ARCHITECTUREDC.
original glass pieces were cleaned and reset, and pieces that could
not be salvaged were carefully recreated.
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