CANADIAN ARCHITECT 08/22
38 GOVERNOR GENERAL’S MEDAL IN ARCHITECTURE
JULIS ROMO RABINOWITZ BUILDING & LOUIS A. SIMPSON INTERNATIONAL BUILDING Princeton University, New Jersey KPMB Architects PHOTOS Adrien Williams LOCATION
ARCHITECT
Princeton University is simultaneously grounded in the past and continuously evolving to respond to future needs. The Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building at 20 Washington Road represents the latest generation of campus development. It prioritizes the repurposing of an existing building to advance the university’s sustainability plan, while fulfilling the master plan vision to create a new social sciences and humanities neighbourhood. The original Collegiate Gothic building (1929) housed the Department of Chemistry and was expanded with several additions over time, resulting in a labyrinthine arrangement of spaces including large laboratory classrooms and mechanical areas. The challenge was to balance the preservation and restoration of the heritage exterior with the complete transformation of the interior into a light-filled, interconnected environment for the Department of Economics and International Initiatives. The resulting place was envisaged as a focal point in the new academic neighbourhood. The building is located on the seam where the historic west campus meets the contemporary east campus. The quads and pathways that weave Princeton’s campus together inspired the transformation of the interior into a microcosm of the campus. A network of generous circu-
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lation corridors with gently sloped ramps resolve transitions between different levels of the Collegiate Gothic building and a 1964 extension. Porcelain tiles provide ease and safety of mobility and wayfinding, matching the bluestone of Princeton’s classic cobblestone pathways. Indiana limestone, argillite, white oak, low-iron etched glass, and custom steel details complement the heritage fabric and character. Each department required its own identity within the whole. Economics is housed in the 1929 building, with an entrance through the heritage vestibule on Washington Road. Two single-storey glass pavilions are discreetly set on the roof of the Washington Road elevation to provide desirable and much-needed meeting and event space. International Initiatives occupies the 1964 addition, which features a new stone entrance and atrium overlooking Scudder Plaza, the Fountain of Freedom, and Robertson Hall. A significant yet subtle intervention, it has had a huge impact on reactivating one of Princeton’s significant outdoor spaces. Along the building’s edges, the landscaping strategy harkens back to the Beatrix Farrand design that shaped the grounds in the first half of the 20th century. Princeton was the first Ivy League university to develop and implement a bold sustainability plan. This project exemplifies adaptive
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