Tozzer Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

by Jonathan McGaha | 30 June 2016 12:00 am

Photo: Enrique Diaz, Multimedia Services, Harvard College Library, and Wausau Window and Wall Systems

Kennedy and Violich Architecture created a renovation and expansion design for Harvard University’s Tozzer Library featuring a copper-clad mansard roof that drapes the top floors and caps a brick façade. The facility features custom-engineered windows and curtainwall sloped to illuminate an interior lightwell. The curtainwall was staggered throughout the brick-and-copper-clad exterior.

Steve Fronek is vice president of technical services at Wausau Window and Wall Systems. “The exterior glass face projected outward from the façade by 4 to 7 inches, creating a unique visual texture, but presenting design challenges in maintaining long-term weatherability,” Fronek says. “At these critical wall interface locations, Wausau designed a custom perimeter receptor system to accept extruded silicone membranes.”

The project included renovating the existing 24,800-square-foot building and a two-story, 10,000-square-foot addition. Salem Glass Co. installed a custom, four-side silicone-glazed window wall system developed for the project based on Wausau Window and Wall Systems’ INvision unitized curtainwall. The system features Viracon Inc.’s insulating and insulating laminated glass. Additionally, occupant-operated Wausau 4250-Z zero sightline awning vent windows were utilized. Linetec finished the aluminum framing with Class I clear anodize on the interior and a three-coat 70 percent PVDF resin-based coating in Café Noir Pearl on the exterior. Revere Copper Products Inc. supplied the copper roof panels.

Project goals included creating collaborate spaces for two departments: social anthropology and anthropology archaeology. The project was required to remain within the existing structural footprint. Space for the anthropology program is organized around a central lightwell clad in birchwood. Offices, classrooms and informal gathering places ring the daylit living space. The $12 million, LEED Gold-certified project was completed in June 2015. The Copper Development Association Inc. awarded the project its 2015 North American Copper in Architecture Award.

Owner: Harvard University, Cambridge
General contractor: Consigli Construction Co. Inc., Boston[1]
Architect: Kennedy and Violich Architecture, Boston[2]
Mechanical/electrical engineer and envelope consultant: BuroHappold Consulting Engineers, Boston[3]
Finisher: Linetec, Wausau, Wis.[4]
Installer: Salem Glass Co., Salem, Mass.[5]
Glazing fabricator: Viracon Inc., Owatonna, Minn., www.viracon.com[6]
Copper: Revere Copper Products Inc., Rome, N.Y., www.reverecopper.com[7]
Curtainwall: Wausau Window and Wall Systems, Wausau, www.wausauwindow.com[8]

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/tozzer-library-at-harvard-university-cambridge-mass/

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