A careful strategy was required when planning the renovation of the Sterling law buildings at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Designed by architect James Gamble Rogers in 1930, the original 250,000-square-foot structure covered an entire city block and did not possess any land for further development. The recent renovation, which was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects of Boston, MA, provided minimal increases to the building envelope, yet developed a more spacious and aesthetically pleasing working environment. In keeping with the building materials used in the original design of the Collegiate Gothic-style structure, granite and limestone were utilized for new architectural elements.

“The challenge of the renovation project for the Yale Law School was to accommodate an enlarged student and faculty population, to provide state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities and to house one of the largest law libraries in the country while respecting and restoring the distinguished existing structure,” said Project Architect Ted Szostkowski of Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects. “The renovation took the approach of minimizing any sense of confrontation with the richly eclectic exterior, preferring a seamless continuity with the existing building fabric. The interior renovation extended this theme of the continuity of the existing materials palette, but employed modern sectional strategies and relationships to bring daylight to previously unused or back-of-the-house spaces.”