In July your windows remember

Now in the restored rooms of the 5th floor one can see the concrete lantern lights installed in the arched floors. The installation of the lantern lights is one of the important parts of the project; its purpose is to adapt the building to the needs of a museum.

A proper illumination, as it has been stressed by Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Director of the State Hermitage, is a necessary condition for displaying the exhibits. In each hall the problem of integrating the lantern into the construction of the arch has been solved individually.

According to representatives of Studio 44, the historical wooden framework supporting the roof of the building in the attic space will be preserved. The wood, according to the mycological analysis, is "alive".

Most part of the load will be borne by new load-bearing structures, for instance, metallic frameworks of transparent structures covering the inner yards. The installation of frameworks has been completed, by autumn the yards will have been covered. All these activities demonstrate a constantly followed principle of preserving the historical constructions alongside with the reinforcement of the construction carcass by means of integrating new elements into it.

One of the major problems of the current stage is the preparation for the installation of the utility networks with regard to the interior and designation of the future museum halls.

By the beginning of the heating season (October) the windows across the perimeter of the building shall have been installed (the total number of windows in the General Staff building is 730; the window frames shall be made of oak painted white), the yards shut off, the arches covered, the temporary heating system connected and the building itself dried. The time for the beginning of final finishing works is March-April.