Welcome Renewal at Winthrop

September 22, 2017
Credit: Peter Vanderwarker

The below article in the Harvard Gazette chronicles the recently-completed renovations at Winthrop House, the second project completed as part of Harvard University’s House Renewal program.

September 22, 2017

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer

After more than a year of renovations and construction at Winthrop House, returning students have discovered a residence that combines neo-Georgian character with 21st-century amenities, including a student-run grill, an art space outfitted with a 3-D printer, and a meditation room…

“We have been intimately involved in this project for five years and the results are just wonderful,” Winthrop Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson said. “We were here to welcome our students home on move-in day, and being able to see the expressions on students’ faces — they were literally mouths agape, jaws dropped. Parents were telling us that they weren’t sure they could get their students to ever leave!”

“Being able to have everyone under one roof is exciting, but being able to make these three buildings weave together and feel like one — with the connecting spaces between them — it’s a great feeling,” Robinson added…

As the second House renovation project, the Winthrop renewal was informed by earlier test projects on Stone Hall at Quincy House and McKinlock Hall at Leverett, as well as the renewal of Dunster House. Construction on Lowell House started this summer, with a fall 2019 opening planned.

Next in line is Adams House. Beyer Blinder Belle, the architects for the Winthrop renewal, have begun design, with construction expected to begin in the summer of 2019 and proceed in three phases, finishing for fall of 2022.

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