     |
      |
In the News
Big Move Means New Digs for Harvard Law School Students
|
Boston, MA – June 4, 2008 – Shawmut Design and Construction, a leading national construction management firm (www.shawmut.com), in collaboration with Austin Architects and CSL Consulting, LLC, has finished renovations of three historic houses for Harvard Law School. The Ukrainian, Baker, and Carriage Houses were originally built in the 1870s on Massachusetts Avenue a half a mile down the street from their new location, but in June of 2007 they were hoisted onto hydraulic dollies and moved to their new site at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Mellen Street. The move both better accommodates the Law School students and makes space on the Law School campus to build a major, new academic complex. The three Victorian-era houses, formerly administration buildings and a research center, now function as apartment style dorm buildings for Harvard Law School students. The project team loaded the three massive houses, 200 tons at the heaviest, onto hydraulic dollies to cart them to the new site last summer. This monumental move required extraordinary coordination between Shawmut, Harvard University, Davis Construction House and Building Movers, and the city of Cambridge. Due to the extraordinary nature of the undertaking, a section of Massachusetts Avenue had to be closed so that the dollies could traverse to the houses’ new site. Adjacent to Harvard Law School North Hall dormitory, the new location was not excavated at the time the houses were moved due to the scheduling needs of the school for work beginning at the original location, the timing of the end of Harvard’s academic year, and demo of an existing portion of North Hall on the new site. This challenge meant the Shawmut team excavated and poured the foundations for the three houses (Ukrainian at 9,800 square feet, Baker at 4,600 square feet, and Carriage at 1,500 square feet) while the houses were on location shored up on the dollies. A complex puzzle of house shifting ensued for the next few weeks until the houses were eventually placed in their permanent locations. “Harvard Law School views the house relocation project as a success in every way,” commented Mark Johnson, Director of Major Capital Projects and Physical Planning at Harvard Law School. “The execution of the move itself was flawless and the overall project, including restoration of the houses, was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Through the efforts of Shawmut and the project team, Harvard safeguarded these historic houses and maintained the schedule for other projects that were dependent on their being removed from their original site.” At one point, much of Massachusetts Avenue was lined with houses nearly identical to the distinguished Ukrainian House, which prompted Harvard’s and the team’s commitment to retaining the historical relevancy for the benefit of the surrounding neighborhood. The historic nature of Ukrainian House (131 years old and Baker and Carriage Houses both 132 years old) led the team to try to preserve as much of the historic features of the houses as possible. As time had taken its toll on the houses and much of the ornamental historic pieces were victims of years of rotting, the team worked to replicate as many features as possible to match their original design, including corbels, rosettes, dentils, columns, and two porches on Baker House. Ornamental granite curbing with wrought iron fencing on top, nearly extinct in house design now, was salvaged from Ukrainian and Baker and reused on both houses. The team exhaustively searched and found the appropriate paint colors to match the original colors on the exterior of the houses in keeping with the historic nature of the facades. All of the houses were reframed and fit-out with all new M/E/P equipment and finishes. New walls, ceilings, windows, slate and asphalt roofs were constructed primarily during the winter months, and a large amount of the exterior trim work was redone. “The immensely complex nature of this project, from the actual moving of the houses to the tight confines and shifting of houses on site, required detailed planning which Shawmut managed seamlessly,” noted Mark Johnson. “We turned to Shawmut because we were confident that they could successfully execute such an intricate project, and they delivered.” From beginning to end, this project required continual planning and coordination. For instance, Harvard Law School students occupied North Hall in August when the project was in the thick of its construction process. This presented logistical challenges for the team to ensure the safety of the students living in this building adjacent to the active job site and with Ukrainian House sitting just feet away. Throughout the project, Shawmut was able to maintain emergency egress routes to ensure that students had appropriate emergency exits despite the active and shifting configuration of the site. The team also conducted work that was particularly noisy during daytime hours and reserved quieter work for the mornings and evenings to minimize the disturbance to neighbors and students in North Hall. About Shawmut Design and Construction |
 |
