Yale University Institute for Social and Policy Studies - Feasibility Study
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New Haven, CT
Yale University
November 2002
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Addition of 5,500 sf connecting three existing buildings
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The study for the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale reinforces its mission to advance interdisciplinary research in the social sciences. Where university centers tend to be inward looking, ISPS aims to shape public policy and inform democratic deliberation by not only contributing to academic discourse but also engaging directly with policymakers and participating in public debates.
A straightforward program of new uses—high-tech classroom, faculty and staff offices, research lab—connects complex campus territories in the Hillhouse quarter at Yale. The design links together three existing buildings oriented to the street, including the distinctive corner building, formerly the secret society Wolf’s Head designed in 1884 by McKim, Mead and White and listed on the Nation Register. Developed on two levels in a suppressed rear court, the addition provides access from the street and from campus landscape spaces at different mid-block levels. Stewardship and renewal of these buildings, including improvement of egress and access to all three, are integral project goals.
