In 1968 Williams College completed a new Science Center that was intended to provide an environment for the cross-pollination of ideas among the fields of science teaching and research. Named the Bronfman Science Center, it was designed by architecture legend Ben Thompson. It served the school well during its lifetime, but now, Williams College has decided to let the old make way for the new.
Selected as the site for one of two new Science Buildings on campus, the demolition of the Bronfman Science center has begun to make way for the new North Science Building. With the South Building complete, the focus is now on site preparation and construction of the North Building, which will provide leading- teaching and research space for the Geoscience, Psychology, Math and Statistics departments.
The massing and façade of Science Center North has undergone some major evolutions throughout the design process, but the final composition will highlight the three departments through the building form by pushing and pulling the wings while maintaining the internal connectivity via a main circulation corridor that links each department’s heart space. Although the façade will maintain the illusion of irregularity with the fenestration, windows will be thoughtfully placed so that each room gets an equal amount of natural light. From one large window or split between two smaller windows, the glass proportion in each office will remain the same.
We are so excited to see this project come to life over the next months of construction. If you’d like to watch the demolition and construction along with us, Williams College has set up a webcam of the construction site, where live pictures are taken every 15 minutes of the progress.
Related links:
Project Update: Williams College Science Center North Building
New Addition to the Science Quad at Williams College
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.