Home

Lewis Law Center — a center for cutting-edge research at Harvard

Cambridge, MA
2021
Targeting LEED Gold
50,448 square feet total
Type: Academic / Adaptive Reuse
Theme: Transforming Old Buildings

The project transformed a 1959 modernist building, originally designed by Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott as a library-stacks building, with a new entrance, increased teaching and office space, a new circulation system, and high-performance glazing. Zinc and glass additions complement the original limestone, metal, and glass building and create a tuned coherence between old and new. A new floor and roof terrace were added to the top of the building, and formerly opaque walls were opened up to bring natural light into the core of the building.

Inside, several sections of floor were removed to create interlocking spaces that foster collaboration, learning, and co-working. Flexible conference and meeting rooms and collaborative areas encourage interdisciplinary work. At the same time, discreet areas are separated for focused work, including study carrels, private offices, and client consultation rooms. The project also houses a cutting-edge laboratory on law and cyberspace for the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

The adaptive reuse of the existing building structure and enclosure results in a 40% reduction in embodied carbon emissions compared to a new construction building using standard industry materials. Overall, the adaptive reuse of the building saved about one million tons of embodied carbon, which is the equivalent to the annual energy use of 120,000 homes.

Read More

Early on, we uncovered a tension between needs for privacy and a widespread desire for light and views. Students’ “bullpen-style” workspaces are clustered at new windows and around new openings between floors to distribute light and views of the exterior. This arrangement has also made for more “water-cooler” moments.

Ameet Hiremath, Senior Principal

Key People

Ameet Hiremath
Project Lead

Caroline Wharton Ewing
Interior Design Lead

Deborah Berke
Collaborating Partner

Brendan M. Lee
Project Manager

Elizabeth Chadkin
Project Manager - Interior Design

Collaborators

TenBerke
Architect, Interior Designer

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Structural Engineer, Envelope Consultant

Altieri Sebor Wieber
MEP/FP Engineer

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Landscape Architect

Nitsch Engineering
Civil Engineer

Haley & Aldrich
Geotechnical Consultant

Atelier Ten
Sustainability Consultant

One Lux
Lighting Designer

Cerami
Information Technology, Audio Visual and Security Consultant

R.W. Sullivan
Code Consultant

AFreeman
Signage Designer

Recognition

Dezeen
March 2023

Archinect
March 2023

Context & Drawings

1/18

Adapting to a Transformed Context

The new design reconnects the building to its current context, which has changed substantially since the original building’s construction in 1959.

We designed inviting and defined entries, creating a stronger circulatory connection to the campus.

Our approach makes the activities within Lewis more legible on the exterior, enhancing the building’s sense of presence.

Flexible and Responsive

Our redesign creates organized “neighborhoods”: departments and programs are grouped together to encourage collaboration, while respecting the need for privacy and individual workspace.

As part of our process, we studied program and adjacency diagrams to inform how new floor plans can best provide meaningful and productive shared social and circulation spaces.

Creating Connections

Natural light and wide views instill an open character throughout the interior.

The design of a new building core not only makes the building more accessible, but also creates a common, consistent identity.

The everyday spaces of the building are filled with light, drawing in activity to form the heart of the building.

Related Work

Rockefeller Arts Center, SUNY Fredonia
Park Avenue Office
Theme: Transforming Old Buildings