Harvard Science Center Teaching Labs & Public Spaces

COMPLETION

2025 (Phase I Complete, Phase II in Construction)

This project is the latest of LWA’s interventions at the Harvard Science Center, which have spanned over two decades working with this midcentury landmark. This effort focuses on the design and construction of approximately 25,000 sf of renovated teaching laboratory, office, and classroom space on the first and second floors and improvements to adjacent corridors, public spaces, and common areas.

The project addresses the key challenge of resolving the tension between the contemporary desire to make science more visible within Harvard’s science building while preserving Josep Lluis Sert’s original concept of a campus pedestrian “crossroads”. The renovation transforms the first and second floors from a scheme of separated laboratories and corridors defined by hard edges and opaque walls into a transparent, open, and welcoming series of public spaces flanked by laboratories with science on display. The interior pedestrian “highways” central to Sert’s original scheme are preserved and enhanced with new pockets of study spaces while the finishes are updated to create a more welcoming atmosphere within the concrete-dominated interior.

The renovation introduces glazed partitions to open and visually connect the teaching spaces and central staircase to the public areas on the first and second floors. The glazing replaces opaque, dark-colored partitions, which had sharply divided instruction and circulation. Strategically inserted seating areas with brightly colored accent furniture encourages students and staff to meet and collaborate, offering touch-down spaces for group and individual study within the building’s public realm.

The building’s main crossroads connecting the lecture halls to the corridors and laboratories has been refreshed and brought up to date. A new wood slat ceiling, refinished wood paneling, repainted auditoria entries, and soft seating give the public spaces a new sense of refinement and warmth. An integrated laptop bar with colorful seating at the atrium provides ample space for students to work amid the bustling building. An iconic mobius-inspired bench anchors the space and serves as a gathering place.

The public stair to the second floor is brought up to code with new precast concrete treads, added handrails, and discreet glass guards integrated into the wood cap on the existing cast-in-place concrete. On the second floor, a lounge with soft seating and an accent wall provides a new space for rest and pause at the heart of the building.

At the east wing of the first floor, a new office suite surrounds an open student lounge and lab classroom, providing a new hub for collaborative learning and exchange. Ample writing surfaces and flexible furniture offer flexibility of use. A large graphic felt wall anchors the space’s identity. The proximity and transparency between offices, study areas, and the classroom enables easy collaboration between students, teaching fellows, and instructors.

The second-floor corridors are enhanced with cantilevered balconies that support laptop bars and are defined by warm wood finishes. These spaces of gathering and impromptu interactions also add visual rhythm to the first-floor corridors below. Alcoves adjacent to the balconies provide a variety of spaces for rest, study, and collaboration along the mezzanine, with occasional visual sneak peeks into the lab and instrumentation work.

This project is a close collaboration between LWA and ADP Architecture: LWA led all work in the public areas, common spaces, classrooms, and offices while ADP Architecture led the design and documentation for the laboratory portion of the project.