At one of Washington’s most magnificent structures, the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, KCCT’s innovative design addressed significant historic preservation and life safety issues.   Faced with the challenge of controlling smoke in the Main Reading Room and the Great Hall, our team designed an elegant system to direct smoke upward and outward to meet national fire safety regulations.

The proposed system pulls makeup air through exterior doors and windows to the top of the dome where it is channeled to the outside of the building through the reuse of abandoned original mechanical system ducts.  By keeping the smoke control components invisible, KCCT’s design preserves the historic integrity of the structure and ensures that the thousands who visits the Library each year will enjoy its beauty unaware of the new safety upgrades.