Archinect - News

SOM's new Schwarzman College of Computing opens at MIT

2024-05-01T14:02:00-04:00

The new home for the recently established MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been completed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

What will be a research hub for AI and other disciplines in the computing sciences offers 185,000 square feet of labs, collaborative spaces, classrooms, and faculty areas inside a shingled profile that defines two eight-story pavilions.

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The structure's design was limited by an existing railroad track running along the site’s north axis, creating the need for a 44-foot bridge that connects to either volume across three levels. After entering its oak-finished triple-height lobby from a central plaza area, engineers and researchers have space to explore flexible arrangements in the offices along its perimeter on Vassar Street.

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The building includes social kitchens, a large 250-seat lecture ...

10 libraries, schools, and learning environments we liked this week

2024-04-13T08:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Learning Spaces.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Fariborz Maseeh Hall at Portland State University in Portland, OR, by Hacker Architects; Photo: Pete Eckert

↑ Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in New York, NY, by Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners; Photo: Max Touhey

↑ The Wizard of Oz | KINCANG Modern Pre-School in Shaoxing, China, by LYCS Architecture

↑ Flathead Valley Community College, Wachholz College Center in Kalispell, MT, by Cushing Terrell; Photo: Longview Studios

↑ Greenwich Village School Green Roof—PS41 in New York, NY, by MBB Architects; Photo: Charles de Vaivre

↑ Pinghe Bibliotheater in Shanghai, China, by OPEN Architecture

↑ Hi...

Heatherwick Studio previews first South American project in Bogotá, Colombia

2024-03-21T16:45:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio has made public details of a new project in Bogotá, Colombia, for a client in the higher education industry. The studio’s first South American design will be realized as a seven-story academic building and makerspace with a uniquely colorful facade composed of setbacks, free columns, planting, and small circular outdoor terraces.

The client is Bogotá’s Universidad Ean Design School, a 56-year-old private institution founded to provide "comprehensive training of people and stimulate their entrepreneurial aptitude so that its action contributes to the economic and social development of people."

Image: Heatherwick Studio/NOD

Traditional Werregue basket-making practices serve as the inspirations for the design, tipping off Heatherwick’s war on blandness and desire to elevate craft into a primary role in his building practice.

This homage to Colombia's Wounaan Indigenous community will serve as the new centerpiece of the campus, complementing the architecture of the su...

CannonDesign completes new Western Michigan University student center inspired by Indigenous design elements

2024-03-04T12:13:00-05:00

CannonDesign has completed a new student center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Replacing the university’s Bernhard Center, the new three-level building contains gathering and lounge spaces, dining, a bookstore, a future on-campus brewpub, and retail, designed as a “beacon of inclusion,” according to the team.

Photo credit: Christopher Barrett

“Located on lands historically occupied by Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadmi nations, the building is designed to be a student-centered gathering place that champions belonging and honors the roots of Native American heritage embedded throughout the site,” the team notes.

Photo credit: Laura Peters

The building’s 163,000-square-foot plan was designed to create “interstitial opportunities” for students to informally engage with each other. Student feedback influenced the design of various social elements, such as a sitting circle derived from Native American culture. Across the sc...

Cooper Robertson unveils campus master plan for the University of Maryland

2024-01-10T13:54:00-05:00

Details of a new comprehensive master plan by Cooper Robertson for the University of Maryland’s flagship campus in College Park were revealed Tuesday by the firm following its initial announcement in March of last year.

By prioritizing strategies for “holistic growth,” the university says it will be able to meet its slate of strategic development goals that include increasing institutional resilience, achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, improving transit options and pedestrian access on campus, making facilities improvements, enhancing connectivity between the campus and D.C. metro region, and preparing for a more diverse future.

Rendering courtesy Cooper Robertson

“This plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner and UMD alum Mike Aziz said. “By embracing its legacy of distinction in a modern and strategic program, the university is setting a highly sustainable and lasti...

HGA leverages Maine's 'working forest' identity for a pair of mass timber structures at Bowdoin College

2023-12-13T14:54:00-05:00

A new mass timber academic design for Bowdoin College from HGA has been unveiled for the first time following the project’s completion earlier this year in Brunswick, Maine.

The Barry Mills Hall and the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies project called for the construction of two opposing asymmetrical structures totaling 46,000 square feet to be used as educational and art exhibition spaces for students on the 207-acre campus.

“This project was an opportunity for Bowdoin to further demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, not only through high-performance buildings but also by investing in generous, flexible learning, teaching, and research spaces,” Rebecca Celis, principal and arts, community and education sector leader at HGA, says of the design. “These buildings will grow Bowdoin’s education and research capabilities while embracing the college’s environmental ethos.”

The campus red Mills Hall design is set to host the college’s C...

SOM completes Rice University’s new engineering and science building behind a patterned brick facade

2023-12-08T13:24:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has completed a new engineering and science building for Rice University in Houston, Texas. Named the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science, the 250,000-square-foot facility seeks to “provide students and researchers with technology-rich facilities that align with the University’s goal to stay at the forefront of scientific discovery.”

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The new building contains laboratories, classrooms, offices, a cafe, and gathering spaces. At the top level, meanwhile, a multi-purpose event space contains an outdoor terrace set against the backdrop of the Houston skyline.

The building is anchored by a five-story central atrium, imagined by the team as “a hub of activity” connecting the wider facilities. A glazed facade at the ground level visually connects the building with the Engineering Quad outside, while a cantilevered sculptural stair is framed by brick walls and a fritted glass wall on the upper levels.

Image cred...

Diamond Schmitt/LemayMichaud to design 'generational' campus expansion at McGill University

2023-11-30T13:25:00-05:00

Diamond Schmitt Architects has designed a new campus expansion plan for McGill University in unison with LemayMichaud that will help advance the study of earth systems and environmental health while restoring several historic buildings and the university’s connection to Mount Royal Park.

One of Canada’s premiere research institutions is about to undergo a transformation of “generational importance,” according to the firms. Their New Vic plan calls for the reuse of three extant Scottish baronial structures at the Royal Victoria Hospital complex and construction of a new 350,000-square-foot facility for teaching and research.

A forecourt to Frederick Law Olmsted's 1893 park design will also be re-established through the design. Costs for the project are stated at $870 million CAD ($640 million USD).

Rendering by Diamond Schmitt

“We are inspired with urgency to design a center devoted to the most critical issue of our time: healing the planet,” Donald Schmitt, Principal at the new join...

Harvard's new Enterprise Research Campus breaks ground in Boston

2023-11-14T18:59:00-05:00

A master plan project at Harvard University from Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, SCAPE, and Utile has begun construction in the Boston neighborhood of Allston.

The 36-acre Enterprise Research Campus (or ERC) will coalesce an area across the Charles River from the Ivy League campus into a new multi-use innovation district with designs from MVRDV, Moody Nolan, and Marlon Blackwell, in addition to the university's first above-ground mass timber structures from Studio Gang.

Once complete, its initial two phases will entail 14 acres of redeveloped land reserved for offices, labs, conference center, hotel, residential component, and open green space.

Image courtesy SCAPE

The effort was inaugurated in 2018 in the interest of creating a "gateway to a collaborative community," which is Boston's well-known consortium of knowledge industries.

Studio Gang founding principal and partner, Jeanne Gang, said her team’s plan has "provided a framework for a vibrant and inclusive public realm that bring...

Populous to design Beaver Stadium renovation for Penn State

2023-10-18T17:09:00-04:00

Populous has been named as the lead architect for a major renovation of the historic Beaver Stadium on the flagship campus of The Pennsylvania State University.

Barton Malow, AECOM Hunt, and Alexander Building Construction will join the project as construction managers, expanding on over 20 years of collaboration with Populous. The scope of the renovation entails winterizing the entire stadium for year-round use as an entertainment venue or the potential host of a college football playoff game. The western side of the stadium will also be reconstructed to include new executive suites and loge seating areas. Other renovations will be enacted in order to keep up with code upgrades and accessibility concerns. The reported cost of the project is $700 million.

The school emphasized its funding would be provided for entirely by the Athletics department, circumventing the need for tuition hikes. Construction is expected to begin in January of 2025 and conclude in time for the start of the ...

Foster + Partners releases Ellison Institute of Technology campus designs in Oxford

2023-10-16T17:09:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has unveiled renderings for a new scientific research and development facility design located in Oxford, UK.

The project to establish a new home for the eight-year-old Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) comprises a 30,000-square-meter (323,000-square-foot) central research laboratory, oncological wellness institute, and restoration of existing buildings. Its creation positions the institute, which also operates out of Los Angeles, for better collaborations with Oxford University and the city’s biotech and technology industries. The EIT says it will also aid with the launch of its new Ellison Scholars program, which was initiated earlier this year.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

The scope of its design entails connecting the restored single-volume Littlemore House to new pavilions located at the easternmost edge of the site in order to create a larger C-shape footprint surrounding a landscaped courtyard that’s built over a sunken 200-seat auditorium and culminat...

A ‘textural and reflective building skin’ wraps the University of Washington’s new Health Sciences Education Building

2023-10-12T14:08:00-04:00

A team comprising The Miller Hull Partnership, The S/L/A/M Collaborative, and Lease Crutcher Lewis has completed the new Health Sciences Education Building at the University of Washington in Seattle. Designed using a ‘culture of care’ philosophy, the scheme seeks to provide a “shared physical space that sparks innovation and creativity among students.”

Image credit: Moris Moreno

Marking a new entrance to the university’s South Campus, the Health Sciences Education Building is the first project to be delivered as part of a wider campus master plan. While the existing campus prioritizes an indoor circulation system between buildings, the new scheme seeks to pull people outdoors and introduce a new network of accessible pathways, murals, and sculptural public art, as well as outdoor seating areas.

Image credit: Moris Moreno

The building is constructed of a hybrid system using steel, concrete, and cross-laminated timber. Inside, the incl...

U.S. colleges eye unused office buildings for academic adaptive reuse

2023-10-06T14:09:00-04:00

U.S. colleges are taking advantage of a post-pandemic increase in affordable, unused offices by purchasing such properties for educational use, according to reporting by The New York Times. Since 2018, numerous higher education institutions in the U.S. have been acquiring office buildings, with 49 private and 16 public institutions making such purchases, as per data from real estate services company JLL.

“For schools seeking to expand, or just beef up their real estate portfolios, the purchases can be a bonanza,” The Times explains. “With the office market in a slump, they have bought buildings at bargain prices. Renovations are usually needed, but a makeover is typically not as expensive or as time-consuming as building from scratch."

Related on Archinect: AIA announces $20 billion in grant funding made available for adaptive reuse and decarbonization projects. Image credit: Brian Ferry

Examples cited by The Times include the 1928 Title and Trust Building in Los Angeles purchased b...

Alejandro Aravena to deliver the new home of the School of Architecture, Art and Design in Monterrey, Mexico

2023-09-21T12:30:00-04:00

Pritzker laureate Alejandro Aravena and his firm ELEMENTAL S.A have been announced as the project leads to deliver the new home of the School of Architecture, Art and Design (EAAD) to the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM) in Mexico.

The scope of the new Classrooms 10 project entails a new building at the Avenida Junco de la Vega that will house the school’s Architecture, Design, Digital Art, and Urbanism programs, all of which are currently spread throughout multiple facilities at its Monterrey flagship campus. The university also operates 21 satellite campuses across Mexico, though no plans appear to be in development for any of their locations.

Aravena visited the campus in late August to workshop the idea with students and faculty at the university. Dean Rodolfo Barragán says the project will leave “a place with urban significance” that integrates ITESM’s presence with Monterrey’s Central Park while “highlighting and giving meaning to the activities that will be appropri...

DIALOG and Smoke Architecture complete Ontario college building inspired by Indigenous principles

2023-09-21T11:36:00-04:00

Toronto-based DIALOG has completed the A-Building Expansion at Centennial College in Scarborough, Ontario. Designed in collaboration with Smoke Architecture, and described by the team as “Canada’s first LEED Gold, zero carbon, WELL certified, mass timber, higher-education facility,” the newly completed scheme “seamlessly blends Indigenous perspectives, sustainability and innovative architecture.”

Image credit: James Brittain courtesy of DIALOG

The project provides 133,000 square feet of new construction in addition to 16,000 square feet of existing renovations. Paying homage to Indigenous traditions and nature-inspired sustainability, the scheme is rooted in the Mi’kmaq concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing,” which “harmonizes Indigenous wisdom and Western perspectives.”

Image credit: James Brittain courtesy of DIALOG

Inspired by how the traditional Anishinaabe Wigwams were designed with their skin pulled up in the summer for air circulation, the team incorporated that same concept for the bui...

HOK designs quantum research facility for Caltech with glass prism facade

2023-08-25T11:41:00-04:00

Caltech has held the groundbreaking ceremony for the HOK-designed Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement in Pasadena, California. Upon its projected completion in 2025, the center is set to become “one of the world’s most advanced hubs for studying quantum science and technology.”

Image credit: HOK

The four-story building will house research offices, meeting rooms, and dedicated collaboration areas, with laboratories strategically located at the basement level to minimize disturbances from noise and vibrations. Externally, a transparent facade on the south and west sides is designed to “suggest a prism or the bending of spacetime, an allusion to research that will take place in the building.”

In an effort to foster community and collaboration, parts of the ground floor are recessed to provide room for greenery and open spaces for outdoor gatherings. The design further encourages interaction with glass panel doors and a breezeway linked to a neighboring seminar room, enabli...

University of Kansas details multipronged campus gateway project with HNTB and Multistudio

2023-08-16T16:43:00-04:00

HNTB and Multistudio have released details for a planned campus gateway district and athletics complex upgrades at the University of Kansas’ main flagship location in Lawrence.

The project will cover the school’s existing 102-year-old David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and provide updated amenities to the adjacent Anderson Family Football Complex while creating a dynamic new mixed-use district at the intersections of 11th and Mississippi Streets. Architects and school officials are both hoping it will help the Big 12 school become an athletic powerhouse while boosting the regional economy.

Image: © HNTB + Multistudio

“The corner of 11th & Mississippi will forever transform this part of campus and provide a memorable experience for visitors entering the KU campus,” Gerardo Prado, Vice President and National Sports Practice Leader for HNTB, said in a news announcement. “These types of transformational projects and vision is what drives us towards excellence in the delivery of our desi...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design a new hybrid arts and technology center for the University of New Mexico

2023-08-08T16:48:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has been announced as the architects of a new $65 million arts and technology facility for the University of New Mexico’s main campus in Albuquerque.

Working alongside local practice ROMA Architecture, the firm expects to break ground next summer on the new Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology (CCAT) in line with the university’s two-year-old UNM College of Fine Arts Framework Plan.

DS+R’s Partner-in-Charge for the project, Benjamin Gilmartin, said it will be a "catalyst for the advancement of the arts in New Mexico." His team's collaborative design will reportedly meet the standards for LEED Silver certification while providing students with exhibition spaces, rehearsal areas, and a large concert hall.

The project will be enacted on a vacant site bordering the city’s Central Avenue, therefore creating a new gateway onto the 769-acre campus similar to several other recent arts-focused higher education projects at UPenn, Williams, and Dartmouth...

UCSB's new $750M student housing request could signal a turn in the Munger Hall saga

2023-08-01T18:58:00-04:00

Appearing to substantiate reports that UCSB’s controversial Munger Hall proposal has been scrapped, the university issued a formal “request for qualifications” this week for architectural firms to design a new student housing project at the same campus location previously reserved for Munger Hall.

After Santa Barbara Independent Executive Editor Nick Welsh hinted at the end of the infamous "Dormzilla" student housing plan in a scathing editorial in mid-July, UC Santa Barbara's recently published RFQ for the "construction of the UCSB Student Housing Infill and Redevelopment Project" at the cost of up to $750 million appears to confirm a sudden turning point in the history of the hotly contested and breathtakingly window-deprived Munger Hall proposal.

Want to throw your hat in the ring? Submit your design bid by 4 PM Pacific Time on August 18.

Previously on Archinect: Munger Hall update: New report outlines 'safety hazards' in megadorm's design

Robert A.M. Stern Architects adds to Notre Dame's arts educational offerings with modernizing Raclin Murphy Museum of Art redesign

2023-07-31T08:00:00-04:00

Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has shared design details of the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame ahead of the project’s first phase opening in South Bend later this fall.

The 70,000-square-foot facility is built to hold a growing collection of over 31,000 art objects, one of the largest for an American university or college, in addition to featuring a slate of exhibition strategies designed to “encourage ongoing dialogues with works of art” for Notre Dame’s student body. As the firm’s brief stated, 91% of the class of 2022 graduates reported having used the former Snite Museum for academic research at some point during their undergraduate careers.

Inside the museum’s neoclassical building, the new facility delivers a multi-level atrium space that welcomes visitors at the ground floor level and directs into the first series of thematic galleries, which house the university’s collection of American, European, and African art. A suite devoted to In...

Steven Holl Architects reveals design for UPenn's new Student Performing Arts Center

2023-06-16T16:57:00-04:00

Steven Holl Architects has unveiled renderings for their design of a new Student Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadephia.

The 37,300-square-foot structure will provide dedicated space for the performing arts at Penn and features a 300-seat proscenium theater, 125-seat studio theater, support spaces, and five rehearsal studios. The firm says they will pursue a LEED-silver certification for the project, which is sited on the northeast quadrant of the 1,085-acre campus as a new gateway between the university and city beyond.

“It is a great joy and honor to work on a performing arts center for the students of this historic university on such an important site,” Holl stated.

Image courtesy Steven Holl Architects

The design for the Center itself evokes the iconic nearby Fisher Fine Arts Library, repeating the use of red terracotta in its façade while separating the program into unique suspended trapezoidal masses that are meant to echo the move...

Studio Gang to design new sustainability commons at Stanford

2023-06-06T16:50:00-04:00

A new project led by Studio Gang will deliver Stanford University a home for the recently-established Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, called Stanford Sustainability Commons, at a site located on the western half of the school’s Palo Alto, California campus.

New York-based practices SCAPE and atelier ten will join the firm for the design of the Commons, which aims to help consolidate a group of interrelated academic disciplines in the hopes of enabling a “thriving habitat supporting the region’s larger network of living things.”

Jeanne Gang says: “The climate crisis is the most urgent challenge facing our world today. We are going to be working with Stanford to design a home for the Doerr School of Sustainability that can support the cross-disciplinary collaboration needed for generating climate solutions in all industries. At the same time, we are excited to model ways for the built environment to address this challenge head-on.”

An aerial view of campus courtesy of Flickr ...

MVRDV begins Expo 2000 Pavilion adaptive reuse transformation

2023-05-16T13:19:00-04:00

MVRDV has shared details on their efforts to revitalize the firm’s former Dutch Expo 2000 Pavilion design into a new, mixed-use development in Hannover, Germany.

According to the firm, the project will transform the aging structure into a new anchor of a three-building development called iLive EXPO Campus after a successful 90 million Euro ($97.8 million USD) fundraising campaign led by iLive and Die Wohnkompanie Nord.

The structure had sat abandoned since its completion 23 years ago, often attracting illegal visits from architects eager for a peek at its three-level interior that has since become overgrown with the local flora while retaining its original structural integrity.

“The theme of the Dutch entry for Expo 2000 was ‘Holland Creates Space,’ and we did exactly that in 2000 by stacking typical Dutch landscapes up to 40 meters high, so that a large wild garden could be created around the pavilion,” MVRD...

TenBerke’s new Princeton residences blend a refined exterior with an eclectic interior

2023-05-11T14:43:00-04:00

TenBerke, formerly Deborah Berke Partners, has completed what the firm calls its “most ambitious completed work to date.” The 485,000-square-foot project comprises two new residential colleges at Princeton University, each serving 510 students.

Image credit: Chris Cooper

Image credit: Christopher Payne/Esto

The taller building, named New College West, features soft-grey metal ‘treehouses’ inspired by its woodland setting. Meanwhile, the smaller Yeh College building is described by the team as “low-slung by outward-looking.” Both buildings feature a mixture of warm grey calcium silicate brick to create a “contemporary interpretation of historic masonry on the campus.”

Image credit: Chris Cooper

The ground floor of the buildings sees wood-formed precast concrete blended with extensive glazing framed in warm white oak. Inside, public and social activities are concentrated on the ground floor, seeking to depart from what the team calls the campus’ “traditionally h...

Autodesk breaks ground on new Technology Engagement Center at Cal State Northridge

2023-04-18T17:00:00-04:00

Autodesk has shared a video of an extended reality (XR) walkthrough animation to coincide with their recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new Autodesk Technology Engagement Center at California State University, Northridge.

The 32,000-square-foot facility will support research labs and other endeavors essential to the College of Engineering and Computer Science while serving as the new home of the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub, which aims to increase underserved communities’ participation in the STEAM fields over time.

Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost was instrumental in organizing a $5 million gift to the institution, which is his alma mater. This gift kicked off the project that is particularly meant to help cement the university’s place in a network of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). As a press release noted, currently, only 8% of all workers in the STEAM fields identify as Hispanic or Latino.

Video courtesy Autdodesk

“In the world of technology, it is common to celebrate...

Yazdani Studio's Caltech sustainability center is making progress

2023-04-13T15:28:00-04:00

Nearly one year after breaking ground in Pasadena, construction is in full swing for the Resnick Sustainability Center on the Caltech campus. [...] When completed, the new complex will serve as the physical hub of the Resnick Sustainability Institute, which has existing at Caltech since 2009.

Following a $750 million donation from The Wonderful Company owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick in 2019 to Caltech, plans to construct a new 80,000-square-foot research facility were put in motion. Designed by Yazdani Studio, the Resnick Sustainability Resource Center broke ground in May 2022 and is now rising along the west side of the school’s campus.

The building, distinct with its undulating glass façade and mass timber grid shell, will be home to critical research in solar and climate science, energy, biofuels, decomposable plastics, and more.

Previously on Archinect: Yazdani Studio designs sustainability research center built with mass timber for Caltech

The Center will house a biosphere engineering facility, a solar science and catalysis center, a remote sensing center, and lecture and interactive learning spaces. The structure is also designed to be the greenest building on the campus, with systems that limit water consumption, interior finishes that prioritize renewable and ...

Five campus projects by sustainability champions Studio Ma: Your Next Employer?

2023-03-27T14:01:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based Relativity Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Phoenix, Arizona this week where we meet Studio Ma.

Founded by Christiana Moss, Christopher Alt, and Dan Hoffman in 2003, the studio has developed a portfolio driven by principles of bioclimatic regenerative design, social equity, and public engagement. The firm’s attention to bioclimatic design has previously been seen in our editorial through their sustainable townhouse complex in Arizona and their receipt of a 2021 AIA Small Project Award for their Xero Studio.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions across their Phoenix office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about the studio’s work, we have rounded up five educational campus projects by Studio Ma that demonstrate their design ethos.

Princeton University Lakeside Graduate Housing

Opened in 2015, the Lakeside Grad...

Deborah Berke Partners unveils completed adaptive reuse project for Harvard Law School

2023-03-07T15:35:00-05:00

A transformational new adaptive reuse project for Harvard Law School’s Lewis International Law Center has been completed recently by Deborah Berke Partners.

Meant to “holistically” meet the demands posed by modern legal education, the project remade the original 1957 Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott design into a “porous, open connector” located at the heart of HLS’ Cambridge campus.

Photo: Chris Cooper, courtesy Deborah Berke Partners

Existing limestone edifices were removed to add an influx of natural light into the structure, which retained 80% of its original concrete foundation, steel-frame structure, and most of its modernist envelope. Terraces were added to the fifth floor and rooftop. A slate of new or repositioned entrances now helps to define the project’s exterior renovations, with the end of enabling greater accessibility to a campus that is now addressed from all sides.

Photo: Chris Cooper, courtesy Deborah Berke Partners

Photo: Chris Cooper, courtesy Deborah Ber...

DIALOG & Group2 selected to design $54 million mass timber student housing facility

2023-02-17T13:25:00-05:00

The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in British Columbia has selected Canadian firms DIALOG and Group2 to design and the construction companies Clark Builders and Turner to build a six-story, CAD $73 million (USD $54 million) mass timber student housing building.

Located on the University’s Abbotsford campus, the facility will feature 398 beds, increasing on-campus student housing from 200 beds to 598.

Architect and DIALOG partner Marion LaRue said the firm aims to create a welcoming and efficient student housing building that utilizes leading techniques and materials.

The building will include lounges, shared kitchens, study rooms, and mixed-use and cultural spaces. It will also integrate passive house building certification standards.

The project will utilize the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method, which increases efficiency by engaging all parti...

Howard University begins Myrtilla Miner Building restoration, initiating $785 million campus master plan

2023-02-10T14:35:00-05:00

To kick off February, Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick announced at a groundbreaking ceremony the start of extensive renovations to the school’s historic, 109-year-old Myrtilla Miner Building. This restoration marks the start of Howard University’s $785 million Central Campus Master Plan, the largest campus development project in the school’s history.

As noted by Howard University, preservation and sustainability are at the core of the institution’s real estate development initiatives. When renovations are complete, the Miner Building will serve as a shared space for the university's School of Education and Middle School of Mathematics and Science.

Work will be conducted mainly on the building’s interior. Significant architectural features, such as the building’s two-story arched windows, limestone baseboards in corridors, and two grand staircases that rise from the ground floor to the second floor, are being preserved.

Previously on Archinect: Howard University an...