Renovating Harvard’s Undergraduate Houses: An Interview with Alumni Aaron Lamport and Nate Rogers

BBB architects Aaron Lamport and Nate Rogers, who have been instrumental in the renewal of Harvard University’s Adams and Winthrop Houses, were recently interviewed by Harvard Alumni about their work at their alma mater. They described how it felt to renovate spaces that held such personal meaning for themselves and for generations of other students, and how they’re preparing the buildings for 21st-century student life.

Aaron: Each of these buildings has its own character and culture, shaped in part by the faculty deans and tutors. That’s what makes House Renewal so exciting. How are you helping those people physically build community? It’s not just that these buildings are getting a little old and we have to fix things up. It’s more about: How in this age are you drawing students out of the room? How are you getting them to interact with their peers, their tutor, and the larger House community? 

Read the interview for more about their stewardship of the Harvard houses to serve the next generation—and about the “weirdest” thing they’ve found on the job. (Hint: it’s bones. Whose? Read to find out.)