Gund Corridor, it’s secure to say, was overdue for an replace after weathering 50 Cambridge winters.
The enduring Quincy Road residence of Harvard Graduate College of Design (GSD) is open after a significant renovation this 12 months, its most important because the constructing opened in 1972. Whereas the adjustments will not be readily obvious, the necessity was.
The corridor’s concrete-and-glass stepped exterior, which encloses GSD’s beloved five-story, central studio space referred to as “the trays,” had badly deteriorated over time, permitting moisture and chilly air to seep in, and warmth to flee. The house was so inefficient, it consumed almost half of the constructing’s whole vitality. Earlier than rainstorms, college students coated their desks with tarps.
“The principle objective of this work is to eliminate the leaks as soon as and for all. This constructing, for the 52 years it has been open, has at all times leaked. When it rains arduous, you see the buckets all over the place,” stated David Fixler, a lecturer in city planning and design at GSD who chairs the school constructing committee, which has been advising on this primary part of what is going to be a multiyear undertaking.
Different enhancements embody boosting the quantity of pure gentle coming into the trays and making the adjoining outside terraces wheelchair-accessible for the primary time.
For many years, the constructing’s distinctive design, in addition to its historic and academic significance to GSD, have introduced main obstacles to enterprise any substantive restoration that may repair these persistent issues with out compromising the feel and appear of the unique design by Australian architect John Andrews, March. ’58.
Gund Corridor Challenge Truth Sheet
“When John Andrews was initially tasked to design a brand new facility for the Departments of Structure, Panorama Structure, and City Planning and Design, he stunned his shoppers with a singular constructing that was directly strong and clear and that prioritized the scholar physique, united inside an infinite, light-filled, single house,” Sarah M. Whiting, dean and Josep Lluis Sert Professor of Structure at GSD, stated in a press release. “Although a lot has modified since Gund Corridor first opened in 1972, the cautious rehabilitation of the construction underscores the varsity’s dedication to this similar precedence: our college students.”
Gund, like different examples of mid-century Brutalist structure, was constructed earlier than the 1973 international “oil shock” and widespread consciousness of local weather change. It options massive surfaces of uncovered concrete, many home windows, and isn’t well-insulated, all of which make it lower than properly suited to the tough local weather of New England.
“Philosophically, one of many compelling issues about brutalism is the construction is the constructing. What you see is what it’s. There’s nothing hidden,” stated Fixler, an architect who focuses on mid-Twentieth century constructing conservation. Meaning “generally they fail spectacularly, and so they’re arduous to repair.”
Almost all the authentic home windows had been badly degraded and couldn’t be salvaged. Above, clerestory home windows on the roof had been changed with triple-glazed home windows.
The curtain partitions on every finish of the constructing now have home windows created from customized vacuum-insulated glass, a state-of-the-art materials not extensively utilized in North America. They supply vitality effectivity and noise discount similar to conventional triple-glazed home windows with out the majority, permitting the brand new home windows to hew very intently to the unique window profiles and glass sizes, whereas delivering two to 4 occasions higher vitality efficiency than commonplace glass. They are going to yield future financial savings in each carbon and {dollars} spent on utilities.
The undertaking takes an growing old facade that “had the issues of its time to a facade that’s the best-performing glazing system anyplace,” stated undertaking architect George Gard, MAUD ’14, of Bruner/Cott Architects. The agency has restored different mid-century buildings at Harvard, together with Smith Campus Middle and Peabody Terrace.
With so many Brutalist-era buildings across the nation now confronting related challenges due to age, the College hopes the undertaking serves as a mannequin for others, by figuring out progressive expertise, strategies, and supplies and serving to outline greatest practices.
“We see a whole lot of future potential because it turns into extra widespread. And we hope that, this undertaking being a high-profile constructing on Harvard’s campus, could be a part of a rising acceptance of this expertise,” stated Gard.
Given the undertaking’s distinctive complexity, Fixler, a conservation architect for a lot of a long time, has been incorporating the renovation into his instructing.
“What I discover heartening is that [among] the scholars, there’s a rising understanding that it’s a extremely accountable factor to do to recycle previous buildings, whether or not you want them or not, and to make use of that chance to check new concepts to make them extra resilient, make them extra sustainable,” he stated.
Not everybody appreciates Brutalist behemoths like Gund Corridor or Boston Metropolis Corridor, usually known as one of many nation’s ugliest buildings, or thinks they’re value preserving.
“One of many largest challenges, frankly, is getting folks to grasp why these are good, fascinating buildings, and getting folks to like them — as a result of so many individuals hate them,” he stated.
“There are lots of people, particularly youthful folks of the era that I’m instructing now and my youngsters, [who] assume these buildings are cool. However an terrible lot of individuals of my era simply don’t.”
