Project overview: This design transforms Harvard’s 1971 Tozzer Library while re-using the existing foundation and structure. A new copper roof volume rotates to catch daylight, expanding usable area and defining the building as a courtyard pavilion. A digital corbelled brick detail at the entry is directly tied to the building massing; its depth and texture are authentic to contemporary construction and resonate with the craftsmanship of the Peabody Museum. An interior lightwell twists and opens as it rises, creating dynamic spatial relationships between anthropology classrooms, offices and social spaces. Its acoustic mirror-and-wood cladding, inspired by birch bark, changes in natural light.
Project location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Firm name: Kennedy & Violich Architecture
Jury comments: This project takes the ordinary and assembles and arranges it in an extraordinary way. The project blends a few big gestures through its envelope and scale with a host of small, yet ingenious design moves throughout the building. Every design gesture has meaning, and so much is accomplished in a compact and potent piece of architecture. Yes, a modest brick building—but it stands out among other campus brick buildings. This building is filled with subtle yet critical details that makes it a special place to learn anthropology. By keeping certain elements of the original building—including sections of concrete, the structural elements, like original beams, and unique site conditions makes this building feel like it belongs there. Aesthetically, critical thought was taken in the design of both the exterior and interior, including its brick and standing seam façade, as well as it’s light-filled interior atrium.
Client: Harvard University
Consultants: BuroHappold; Cavanaugh Tocci Associates; Consigli; Green International Affiliates; Hughes Associates; LeMessurier; Richard Burck Associates; Tillotson Design Associates
