Boston – August 7, 2007 – Shawmut Design and Construction (www.shawmut.com) announced today that it has completed a major renovation and expansion of Harvard University’s New College Theatre (formerly known as the Hasty Pudding Theatre) located at 10-12 Holyoke Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The stately Georgian Revival building that served as home to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals since 1888 was renamed the New College Theatre and transformed into a modern, state-of-the-art facility with a new 274-seat theater. Architecture firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates provided design services for the project, which also included rehearsal rooms, changing rooms, prop and scene workshop, orchestra and stage lifts, offices, and reception area. The new facility will remain the home of three of Harvard’s undergraduate performing organizations—the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Krokodilos and the Pitches—and will provide high-quality performance and rehearsal space for many other student groups for productions and performances open to the public.
Working closely with architect Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Harvard administrators and students, the City of Cambridge, and the area’s neighbors and direct abutters, Shawmut delivered the twenty-two month project ahead of schedule, on-budget and with as minimal neighborhood impact as possible.
Construction of the New College Theatre involved a complete renovation of the front portion of the historical theatrical building, or about a quarter of the existing facility. The rear portion of the structure was entirely demolished and replaced with a new 30,000-square-foot wing consisting of a theatre, rehearsal and teaching spaces, and professional-level theatre support facilities. Given the historic nature of the Georgian Revival building, the team preserved and fully-restored the façade and front quarter of the existing building to meet Harvard’s goal of retaining the building’s historical significance and neighborhood charm.
“The New College Theatre renovation was one of the most challenging and rewarding projects we’ve completed for Harvard University, and we are proud to help the University further enhance its renowned arts program,” said Kevin Sullivan, Director of Construction Operations at Shawmut Design and Construction. “Through creative thinking, constant communication with all parties involved, and previous experience working in tight urban locations, Shawmut was able to keep the project on track and deliver the stunning state-of-the-art performance facility that Harvard envisioned at the onset.”
Sullivan notes that the construction team had to deal with incredibly tight space restrictions, ground water issues, utilizing slurry walls for the foundation system, using a self-erecting tower crane to deliver heavy equipment and supplies, and reusing historic materials to blend in with new finishes.
Since City of Cambridge zoning and historic preservation regulations limited height opportunities, the team had to build down to meet Harvard’s construction goals. As a result, the new wing includes three floors above grade and three floors below grade. Due to the New College Theatre’s constricted site (the project’s property lines were only 18” away from the neighbor’s foundations), the team utilized complicated slurry wall construction for the building’s foundations. The slurry walls, which are used to build foundations in areas of soft earth close to open water or with a high ground water table, allowed the team to excavate the 55-foot hole required to build vertically without using excessive structural forms.
As part of the sub-grade levels of the new theatre, the team constructed a modern, industrial-sized prop room and workshop so set dressers and prop masters can make intricate and large props on-site, well below the stage floor. In order to include this space in a windowless, below-ground shop, Shawmut installed specialized fans, a dust collection system and paint spray hood for the safety of the students.
Construction was further complicated by the fact that access to the congested job site – which is abutted on three sides by residential buildings and dormitories – was limited to a single, 8 ½ - foot wide alley, making it difficult to deliver supplies and perform routine construction techniques. For example, Shawmut had to fold a 130-foot tall, self-erecting crane into as small a package as possible (8’ 2” wide and 50’ long) and essentially thread it through the narrow driveway—allowing only a margin of error of 2” on each side—so it could be re-erected once in place on the job site behind the New College Theatre.
One of the most crucial roles the crane played was the delivery of the massive mechanical systems needed to operate the facility. Due to the depth of the hole and the size of the equipment, the mechanicals needed to be delivered early in the project and set in place in the lowest level of the hole. Shawmut then had to safely insulate and protect the equipment, while over the next three months the team completed the structural steel systems around it. This required extensive planning and coordination, as the team knew that once the systems were in place, no changes or modifications could be made.
About Shawmut Design and Construction
About Shawmut Design and Construction Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with offices in Providence, RI , New York, NY, and Atlantic City, NJ, Shawmut Design and Construction is a $800 million national construction management firm providing client-oriented services for academic, banking, corporate interiors, cultural and historic preservation, retail, restaurant and science and healthcare markets. Visit Shawmut at www.shawmut.com.
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