Sherrill Hall
Centerbrook renovated Sherrill Hall, a limestone clad mid-century Brutalist library located on the Brattle Campus of Lesley University. Constructed in 1965, its aesthetic was a stark departure from Cambridge’s Colonial heritage. Today, it is considered a historic building by the Cambridge Historical Commission. Centerbrook’s renovations bring a social heart to the University’s Brattle Campus, creating a nucleus of student activity where there was none. They also introduce a new central plant that efficiently provides heating and cooling to buildings that previously had no cooling or relied on unsightly exterior equipment.
Sherrill Hall’s three floors and basement are zoned with quiet study on the lower two floors and increasingly vibrant student activity on the upper two. Largely untouched library stacks and study areas remain in the basement. On the first floor, a renovated lounge that accommodates student presentations, performances, and film screenings and a café preview the offerings above to students.
Lesley University
The second floor contains a renovated flat-floor lecture hall that can be configured for small or large groupings. Study spaces abound, with soft seating and wired pods for working alone or in groups and a new reading room equipped with reconfigurable tables for ad hoc collaboration. Separate group study rooms of varying sizes feature glass walls to infuse hallways with inviting activity and connect students virtually to others around the world. A new digital media maker space extends Lesley’s commitment to hands-on learning.
Recreational gaming and relaxed, light-hearted student gathering take center stage on Sherrill’s third floor. A wide variety of soft seating again abounds throughout this floor. Sound absorptive ceiling panels in a wave pattern soften conversations in a new lounge, with comfortable furniture arrayed around a water vapor “fireplace.” Nearby, students can play or spectate at pool, shuffleboard, foosball, ping pong, or old-school video arcade games. An e-gaming zone with five fixed screens and eight PC stations allows players to compete singly, collaboratively, or against each other, with a spectator bar to let others in on the action. The stations will also provide the opportunity for competition in online tournaments. Next door, a cozy cave wrapped with acoustically absorptive fabric offers an inviting respite.
The renewed Sherrill Hall fulfills the University’s goal of giving sometimes cloistered students a place where they can comfortably engage with their peers. With a new lease on life, Sherrill Hall continues to contribute to the Brattle Campus within the fabric of its Cambridge neighborhood, creating a dynamic new student-centric heart at its core.
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