One of the most important buildings of the second half of the 20th century and a breakthrough design by Louis Kahn, Richards is a designated National Historic Landmark. The complex structure is configured as a group of laboratory towers with a central service tower. Considerable functional shortcomings had made this design icon the target of much venom for over the past fifty years. Our modernization brought the technical requirements of the laboratories into alignment with Kahn’s plan and spatial design, while vastly improving building functionality and energy performance.

After studying the feasibility of renewing and repurposing existing wet biomedical bench research laboratories to dry computational medical research laboratories, we developed Design and Preservation Guidelines to inform our work on this, as well as on subsequent projects. The inaugural phase of the modernization focused on portions of Towers C and D. We integrated new engineering systems, replaced and preserved the existing exterior walls, and introduced chilled-beam cooling, all of which significantly improved energy performance and occupant comfort.