AIA Connecticut and AIA New York State Design Awards

Since its completion in 1963, the Art + Architecture Building (rededicated Paul Rudolph Hall) has been an integral part of Yale’s arts campus.  The 114,000 sf cast-in-place concrete structure, with 37 terraced levels on nine stories, had succumbed to a series of destructive renovations that marred architect Paul Rudolph’s original vision.

Acting as building envelope specialists, Hoffmann Architects teamed with design firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects LLC (GSAA) to reinvent the Brutalist icon.  To remedy pervasive leaks, roofs and terraces were redesigned, and damaged finishes and fixtures restored.  Rudolph’s innovative light wells, which had admitted daylight into sub-grade floors, were uncovered and reconstructed.  Some of the largest sheets of insulated glazing ever made were used to recreate the original fenestration design while meeting current energy standards.  This massive glass in turn required re-engineered anchoring systems and supports, while the irregular textures of the megalithic concrete slabs demanded custom repair strategies.

The result:  a stabilized, watertight, efficient building that re-articulates Rudolph’s characteristic interplay of mass and light.

Restoration accompanied addition of the Loria Center for the History of Art and the Haas Family Arts Library, both designed by GSAA, for which Hoffmann Architects provided third party facade and roof consultation and review.

In addition to the AIA Design Awards, the project also received the New Haven Preservation Trust Landmark Plaque, the International Concrete Repair Institute Award of Excellence, New York Construction Magazine Award of Merit, and Connecticut Building Congress Project Team Award.