Coming to the Engineering Quad: Duffield Hall

Monday May 24, 2004 Category: Campus/Architecture Permanent Link

In the vein of new buildings on campus, Duffield Hall is near completion and set to open in 2004. Billed by the College of Engineering as “one of the most advanced university research centers anywhere,” it will house research and teaching facilities for nanotechnology. Duffield Hall is being built along Campus Road, arguably turning the Engineering Quad into an actual “quad” for the first time.

While the building will surely provide much needed laboratory and classroom space, it will be interesting to see how the design of these buildings stands the test of time. They seem to lack the bold imagination of MIT’s new Stata Center. However, by being a bit conservative, we may have ducked a disaster like Uris Hall, or something like Harvard Business School’s new dorm at One Western Avenue, perhaps the most hated new building in Boston.

Of course there are panoramic views, tours, and webcams at the project website.