The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University occupies Rhode Island Hall, a historic Greek Revival building at the center of the campus green. AW restored the building’s beloved exterior and re-animated the interior with a new program and design vocabulary to create this endowed teaching and research facility.
The building’s historic shell and contemporary liner amplify one another by contrast. While the exterior was carefully restored, the interior was completely gutted of all structure and contents, making room for an architectural language that challenges the notion of archaeology as a conservative and dusty pursuit and supports the Institute’s mission to serve as a progressive leader in the field of archaeology.
The design approach for this project uses the existing shell to define the internal organization of its contents. Program elements were introduced either as liners of the building’s perimeter or as objects pulled away from the walls. Essential to this effort was consideration of ways that daylight could be delivered throughout the building, exploring the translucency of wood screens and patterned glass panels, in order to dissolve the boundaries between student and teacher and to encourage discourse. By deploying these few simple elements in a variety of conditions, the design creates spaces that accommodate multiple needs: reading alcove and active library, lecture hall and informal gathering space, circulation space and artifact display, research floor and graduate studio. Natural daylight washes through program areas directly, or is filtered through wood screens that guide movement through the building, or softly illuminates private offices through translucent walls.
The Institute’s open, flexible plan reflects the University’s goal to bring together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines under one roof, facilitating cross-departmental interaction. The project is both practical and symbolic, providing a contemporary home for this new research institute within a beloved architectural artifact.
Material Used:
1. Carpet: Lees Carpet www.leescarpet.com
2. Ceilings: Ecophon, Armstrong Ceilings
3. Flooring: Natural Cork
4. Furniture: Steelcase, Neudorfer, Cabot Wrenn
5. Glass: Old Castle Glass
6. HVAC: York
7. Insulation: Demilec, Certainteed
8. Lighting Control Systems: Lutron
9. Lighting: Ledalite,Lightolier, i/o, Prudential, Bartco, Focal Point, Vode
10. Metal: Capco Steel, Newark Wire Works
11. Millwork: Monarch Industries
12. Paints and Finishes: Benjamin Moore
13. Site and Landscape Products: Yardworks
14. Structural System: Capco Steel
15. Wayfinding: Malcolm Greer Designs, Sunshine Signs
16. Windows, Curtainwalls, Doors: Monarch Industries, Skyfold Doors
