Project Description
Griffith Observatory is one of Los Angeles’ most visible and beloved landmarks, hosting over 70 million visitors since opening its doors in 1935. However, after decades of heavy use, the building was badly in need of repairs and upgrades – to both the physical building and the exhibits. The 2002 $93 million renovation project involved placing over 40,000 square feet of new exhibition space below grade. In addition, the project added new spaces and exhibits to the building, including a 202-seat lecture hall, 298-seat planetarium, multilevel exhibit hall, offices, classrooms, café, and a new gift shop.
Athena Engineering, Inc. was engaged by the Los Angeles Department of Parks & Recreation as a building automation consultant on this project and performed third-party commissioning to the Honeywell Symetre front-end. In addition, we installed the communication and power wiring between the new chiller and the new front-end. The delicacy of the instruments and materials in the exhibits dictated multiple layers of commissioning, testing, and verification, which Athena Engineering performed in partnership with the other integrators on site for this hallmark project over the course of the four year timeline.
