OUR WORK > RESUSCITATING
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ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES
Harvard University – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Constructed in 1973, the Harvard Science Center has served as a major crossroads for the Harvard campus, and continues to be a primary setting for the majority of science education serving the undergraduates of Harvard College. While it has undergone many transformations over its fifty year history, the building is still supported by aging infrastructure, much of which is original to the building and well past its service life. In order to ensure continued operations of the building, this project focuses on developing a comprehensive renewal plan for replacing four primary elements of the electrical systems – including main electrical switchboards, primary building distribution, motor controls, and standby generators in ways that anticipate and enhance future programmatic uses of the building. Implemented in phases initial work of the project will install new main systems and upgraded distribution equipment in a rational and regular layout, which can be connected to existing systems and phased into use over time as the remainder of the building is renovated.
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While the project is inherently an electrical project, a detailed architectural assessment of the building – including existing programmatic analysis, documentation of spatial challenges, and future use scenario planning – provided direction and order to the proposed solution, resulting in a comprehensive rehabilitation of the building which improves system performance, while also enhancing the use of the building in the process.