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Architects: KPMB Architects
- Area: 197000 ft²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:Adrien Williams
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Manufacturers: Zeitraum, Faram, Filtrine, Gunlocke, Lightblocks
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Lead Architects: David Jesson (Senior Associate), Bruce Kuwabara (Design Partner), Shirley Blumberg (Partner-in-Charge)
Text description provided by the architects. The former Frick Chemistry Laboratories at 20 Washington Road were fully renovated and with strategic new additions became the new home for key academic and administrative units at Princeton University. The Julis Romo Rabinowitz (JRR) Building houses Princeton’s Economics department and related research centers, and the University’s international initiatives are newly sited in the Louis A. Simpson International Building. This project realizes the University’s Master Plan vision to create a hub for social sciences, and transform the large, monolithic building into a porous, transparent and welcoming learning and research environment.
The building is located in the north-east precinct of the campus and occupies a prominent position east of Washington Road on Scudder Plaza – on the seam where the historic west campus meets the more contemporary east campus. The campus pedestrian pathway system was extended into this precinct as part of the landscape design, and a new south atrium and bridge entrance to the Simpson Building directly connects to Scudder Plaza. On Washington Road, the Beatrix Farrand landscape has been restored and forms the entrance court to the JRR Building. New glazed rooftop pavilions complement the heritage façade, and deliver flexible meeting and seminar rooms with remarkable views to the historic campus to the west.
