Morse and Stiles Colleges, Yale University
Kieran Timberlake
PRINCIPAL Stephen Kieran
SITE Yale University, Morse and Stiles Colleges (Eero Saarinen) New Haven, CT
PROGRAM Complete renovation of 180,000 sf and underground addition of 20,000 sf including a new auditorium and social/recreational spaces.
ROLE Architectural designer – focus on entrance lobbies and stairs to addition, design and detailing of underground addition, physical model, presentation images
One of the last works designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962, these two residential colleges have a rich history and architectural prominence. Built in the style of pre-Gothic Tuscan towers, the rubble masonry and lack of right angles form an amazing shell but with time the inside has worn and become outdated. Program for the renovation includes an expanded servery, new kitchen, and a considerable amount of additional social and recreational space, now housed in the dark concrete quarters of the basement. As part of this intervention we sought to re-define the identity of the colleges especially in relation to each other. This was achieved in part through establishing a material language for layering new texture and linking to the addition. Part of the challenge was working a new cohesive flow into a very rigid existing structure. For the subterranean addition, we established battered walls and edge skylights within structural boxes aligned to the curving geometry of the two colleges.
ARCHITECT 10.2012
AIA NATIONAL HONOR AWARD 10.2012
