divine renovation

Revered for academic excellence, Harvard University draws scholars from around the globe to its Cambridge, Mass. campus. But the campus itself attracts architects. So, when offered the chance to upgrade and update an aging Harvard facility, Boston-based Bergmeyer Associates eagerly went back to school.

The Center for the Study of World Religions was established in 1957 by a gift from a group of anonymous donors with the intent of creating a renowned research center for the study of world religions and spiritual traditions. As part of its mandate, the Center was to be an offshoot of the Divinity School and be situated in its own building. To create its new home, Harvard turned to Josep Luís Sert, who was director of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard at the time.

Completed in 1960, the original building sits on Harvard's north campus, nestled between the law school and the college of arts and sciences and across the street from the Divinity School. Sert used the Center's independence as design inspiration, crafting a U-shaped plan so the building's back is against the school to signify its autonomy. "The original concept was to provide living quarters for the director and family, as well as for the fellows and their families, and some sort of communal space in which they could gather, interact, and create a community," says Carolyn MacLeod. MacLeod was the manager of finance and operations at the Center during the renovation and is now director of accounting operations for the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard.

Recently, however, the Center's mission shifted from operating independently to encouraging interaction. Asked to come up with a wish list of improvements, the staff had several goals: to develop more research space, create a lobby or welcome area, develop space that allowed more interaction between staff, and update the current public areas.

Bergmeyer took its inspiration from Sert's original design and from a small renovation in 1991, which converted a first floor director's suite into conference rooms. "The renovation was partly to upgrade the building while also reaching out to the other institutions on campus," says Doug Coots, lead designer for the project and senior associate at Bergmeyer. "We started with the bones and original intent of the building and built on that."



To draw people in, Bergmeyer created a pathway that leads visitors into and through the Center. The central courtyard became an important common space, acting as the introduction to the Center. Continuing the path into and through the Center were breezeways that Sert had originally designed to separate the nearby buildings. To establish direction, Bergmeyer enclosed one of the breezeways and installed heating and air conditioning systems to create a lobby.

Inside the Center, challenges included a lack of natural light and an unforgiving cast-in-place concrete structure. "We had to be careful how we brought in new heating systems, new electrical systems, and new fire protection systems," Coots recalls. "They had to be brought into a building that didn't have a lot of headroom and was fairly difficult to modify." The designers also augmented natural light with ambient lighting, which raised the overall light level without too much harshness. In addition, an elevator was attached adjacent to the lobby and several upstairs residences were converted into collaborative research spaces.

For the interiors, the designers looked to the '91 renovation. "We borrowed some of that language to fit out the new common room so they would relate to each other," Coots says. In addition, the Center had a collection of religious art that was poorly showcased in an unlighted bookcase and on top of a radiator in the common room. "It was a diamond in the rough," recalls Coots. "This was one of those cases where you inherit something?this case being the building, the 1991 renovation, and the Center's art collection?and you need to find new ways of making the most out of all those things," he adds. Now displayed properly, the artwork provides a budget-friendly personal touch. "What's truly amazing is that people who have been to the Center multiple times over the years and obviously saw the artifacts ask where we got the piece from?as if they are new acquisitions," says MacLeod.

With construction done, the Center's staff and scholars are singing its praises. "The renovations transformed the space both in terms of its visual impact and also how people interact. People gather in the new areas?the lobby, research wing, and common room?to chat, exchange ideas, and simply enjoy the space. They want to exist in the space, rather than hurry off to other places," says MacLeod of the final project. "A new sense of community has been born."