The architecture of the building springs from the idea that studying the law is not a solitary endeavor: study and practice depend on dialogue, discussion and debate, which, in turn, describe human interaction.
Richard Olcott, Design Partner
The architecture responds directly to the School’s desire to create a new identifiable campus center for student activity that maximizes natural light, air and accessibility to outdoor space. The renovation and expansion is a conceptual urban infill: its identity created not by a solid but by a void, a public common space that pulls together disparate elements of the campus; its focus is inward.
The design takes inspiration from two characteristics of its neighborhood: the scale of the surrounding residential homes and the canopy of trees that covers the entire area. The individual volumes of the addition’s classrooms recall the scale of the surrounding homes, while a prominent, landscaped green roof echoes the tree canopy and integrates the building with the surrounding landscape.
Perforated by skylights and a courtyard, open to the surrounding landscape and the sky above, capturing views of the School’s historic Trickett Hall and the Moot Courtroom, Lewis Katz Hall creates a sense of openness and accessibility, a feeling of connectivity to the School’s historic past and a projection of its progressive future.
