Museum Conservation

CAL-IN Technology Transfer, L.L.C.

Macro to Micro to Nano... Critical Environmental Experts

Museum Conservation

Finding The Right Fit

A great art museum fosters outstanding encounters with art. Every aspect of the museum should work in concert to prepare viewers for that “aesthetic moment” when a work of art speaks to them in purely visual, emotional, or intellectual terms. Every element, from the building’s massing down to the smallest details of the visitors’ experience, should be orchestrated to contribute to a positive encounter between the visitor and art.

At CAL-IN/COBEAL, we believe that this includes the environmental, conservation, and IAQ equipment protecting that art. Our committed understanding of the fundamental importance of the qualities of light, temperature, and humidity that can enhance art and support the act of seeing is what sets us apart from your typical conservation product provider.

Finding The Beauty

Whether we are designing a full-scale museum or retrofitting an existing space to accommodate your collection, we keep in mind that the aesthetics of the project must be pleasing to your visitors.

At CAL-IN/COBEAL we have been designing critical environmental chambers to protect art for over 30 years and believe that to experience art fully, proper lighting, temperature, and humidity is absolutely essential. Appropriate selection of all equipment and products heightens the visitor’s experience, while responsibly protecting the art. Controlled use of environmental equipment is also essential in other areas where it enhances activities, defines exhibition space, and creates comfortable transitions from the exterior world to the gallery interiors.

Behind the scenes, flawless care and protection of the collection is critical. The spaces where the art enters the building, where it is stored, where it is viewed by scholars, curators and researchers, and where all the other support functions occur, should similarly work in concert to meet the museum’s needs.

Expressing Your Museum's Personality

At CAL-IN/COBEAL we observed early in working with museums that expressing a unique personality can be a challenge when your environmental equipment is not designed in harmony with your museum’s mission. One of the basic tenets of our company is to help design equipment and choose products that are extremely varied. To us, it’s more important that your environmental equipment express the personality of the institution rather than the personality of the engineer.

In the case of all of our projects, our major challenge is to incorporate the museum’s mission and personality with the environmental or conservational needs of the exhibits housed there.

The products we design and represent are more evolution than revolution, capturing the spirit of the age while integrating functional concerns and new technologies in the context of the museum’s needs.

Innate Understanding of Environmental Equipment

For over 30 years, CAL-IN/COBEAL has provided environmental equipment to museums, through this, our specialists and engineers have developed an innate understanding of which products work best for museum applications.

The innovations we have made in the IAQ industry have fostered a unique flexibility in our understanding of IAQ and conservation equipment in the museum industry. Protecting your art from the detrimental effects of poor lighting, humidity, temperature, and moisture is just a part of our expertise. We understand and continue to push the design envelope, developing innovations that spring from the unique needs of each client. If for example, you wish to combine the magic of environmental science with the learning power of science center interactivity, we can create equipment that is both functional and hands-on in terms of learning applications for young, eager visitors.

In our opinion, there is no reason why environmental equipment and technologies cannot be allowed more exploration and creative exterior expressions, mirroring the dynamic quality of your museum’s interior expression. We have products that were unimaginable thirty years ago, but as science and technology evolve, so do museums. It is in the spirit of this evolution that CAL-IN/COBEAL adapts to changing institutional needs.

Committed To Creating Sustainable Museum Equipment and Products

One of the most significant developments in the museum field recently has been the widespread embrace towards sustainable and green design principals. Almost all of our museum clients are asking for green products.

CAL-IN/COBEAL is committed to creating sustainable museum equipment and products that withstand the test of time aesthetically, operationally, and functionally. Our review process helps ensure that the products we choose will continue to perform well out into the future as they do when they’re first opened. We understand that most museums would rather use operating funds for bringing on new collections. We help assure minimal long-term maintenance costs and longer-lasting equipment by specifying highly durable materials and by being very particular about how these materials are chosen and installed. This approach sometimes costs more initially, but we have found it to be an effective way to “endow” a museum’s long-term viability.

Gas Phase Systems for Museum Storage

At CAL-IN/COBEAL, we guarantee that the utmost effort has been taken to help you create a healthy, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, cost-effective environment to work in and visit.

CAL-IN & COBEAL gas phase systems can help protect artifacts from premature decay and degradation.

Typical installations include: