Awards
- 2026 AGC Build CT Awards, Mid-Size Renovation $10M-30M
- 2025 Home Building Industry Awards, Best Commercial Rehab Under 20,000 SF
- 2025 AIA CT, Merit Award, Historic Preservation/Adaptive Reuse
Adaptive Reuse of a Landmark Academic Building at Yale University
Graves-Gilman House (37 Hillhouse Avenue), located in a National Register Historic District, has been upgraded into an accessible academic facility for the Department of Linguistics, Data-Intensive Social Science Center, and Center for Geospatial Solutions. Along with the renovations, a 6,500 GSF addition accommodates a new elevator, egress stair, and more offices. The interior, built with mass timber, was reconfigured for new offices, seminar room, break room, and accessible restrooms. All improvements maintained the historic character of the building and support Yale’s zero carbon goals. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification.
Close coordination with the project team was required to find creative ways to fit all systems within the limited available space in the building. Mechanically, the building was served by multiple heat-pump units located on grade outside; however, the ground-floor ceiling could not accommodate all required refrigerant piping, ductwork, conduit, and fire-protection lines. To free up critical ceiling space and allow all trades to fit, one of the large heat-pump units was relocated to the roof. The project presented additional challenges electrically: the EMA/EEG lab required a full Faraday cage, including specialized filters and detailing to mitigate interference on all electrical wiring entering the room. In addition, the power source was nearly 250 feet away at a Yale substation plant, necessitating investigation of existing conduits for spare routing, repair of a conduit break, and installation of a new long feeder to complete the connection.
