It’s dedication day for Harvard’s innovation lab in Boston, but the buzz has been building all fall.

Shepley worked with Harvard to fast-track the creation of Batten Hall and the i-lab, transforming the old studios of WGBH into a high-energy space for campus and community. Say goodbye to the studios where Julia Child and Zoom! were filmed and hello to workshops and wide-open (and wired) spaces.

Or should we say ‘Hi,’ in the spirit of the i-lab’s signature logo, which Shepley created as part of the innovation lab’s brand?

Even before today’s events, i-lab director Gordon ...[more]

You know you need to update your healthcare facility. You’re not operating as efficiently as you could. You know what’s not working, but in this climate of ‘doing more with less’ how do you take steps that are strategic and sound? If there is one thing that’s constant in health care delivery, it’s change: if you’re going to successfully balance current needs with the demands of an unknown future, you should start with careful facility planning.

Step 1: Know what you have
This means developing a detailed inventory of buildings, including square footages. It’s surprising how many ...[more]

Two months before the second anniversary of Haiti’s devastating January 2010 earthquake, the vision of a dignified and productive life for Haitians living with disabilities reached a major milestone this week as construction began on the Center for Rehabilitation and Excellence in St. Marc.

When it opens next year, the 6700 sf facility will transform immediate and long-term delivery of rehabilitation services in central Haiti while dignifying and normalizing the daily lives of people living with disabilities. The center will establish new national standards for rehabilitative care in ...[more]

Construction is now underway for new student housing being developed by Campus Acquisitions near Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The project received final approval from the city of West Lafayette earlier this month.

The development will transform an under-utilized urban parcel with small commercial structures and an open parking field into a vibrant part of the city landscape. The mixed-use student housing complex establishes a compelling civic presence to this high-profile urban block, with 229 residential units with 489 beds and ground-floor retail that serves the surrounding neighborhood.

The five-story ...[more]

Colleges and universities that are looking for ways to improve energy efficiency and resulting cost savings are realizing that some habits start from the ground up, as discussed in “How to achieve a tight building envelope,”� which appears in the June 2012 issue of College Planning & Management.

In the article, Jonathan Baron talks about the value to owners of investing in building component mock-ups and building commissioning, as well as the importance of evaluating the compatibility of different materials used in creating the building envelope.

Jonathan’s remarks on building ...[more]

A significant part of our practice as architects is to convey abstract, mostly visual design concepts in ways that make them accessible to a wide range of people, most of whom are not fluent in architectural drawing conventions. We are so focused on visual representation that we are often shocked when the audience does not understand the basic experiential qualities of the spaces we are trying to convey.

How can we help clients and future users understand what it will be like to interact within a building that only ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch has named Amrita Raja as the firm’s 2012 Summer Design Fellow. Amrita, who was selected from a highly competitive field of more than 50 candidates, will spend ten weeks this summer immersed in design challenges in the firm’s Boston studio.

In selecting Amrita as this year’s Fellow, committee members cited the depth of expression in her work and her understanding and articulacy in discussing her design decisions and intent.

Amrita will start her final year in the Master’s program in Architecture at Yale this fall. She is now in the early stages ...[more]

I recently picked up on something while reading Steven Levy’s interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in Wired magazine. In response to a question about how to make Blue Origin (his space travel venture) succeed, Bezos said simply: “Maintain a firm grasp of the obvious at all times.”

Capturing the essence of a brand, a story, or an organization is the ultimate communications design challenge.  It’s the proverbial truffle of successful identities: uncovering it usually takes some digging, but the rewards are worth it.

Giving the Harvard i-lab a graphic identity ...[more]