Yale University
Humanities Quadrangle

Our adaptive reuse and expansion of a 1932 campus landmark building to become Yale’s Humanities Quadrangle, centralizes fifteen academic departments in one location to create greater opportunities for inter-departmental learning and research.

A comprehensive preservation framework assessed historic spaces throughout the existing building identifying those to be restored and those that could welcome change. The building’s Collegiate Gothic façade and roofs were rehabilitated while inside, decorative ceilings, carved limestone, wood paneling and doors, light fixtures, leaded glass windows, and 300 art-glass window medallions were restored.

Working with stakeholders campus-wide throughout programming and design, entry and wayfinding were reconsidered, to open the closed, complex building to the campus. Clusters of faculty offices, collaborative classrooms, and breakout spaces were created around the building’s two interior courtyards. To accommodate larger programmatic needs not achievable within the existing building footprint, one of the courtyards was excavated to create an underground 280-seat lecture hall and 100-seat film screening room, expanding the building without enlarging its footprint.

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