Upgrading and Preserving Harvard’s Historic Chemistry Lab

Harvard’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department is located at 12 Oxford St. The Chemistry laboratory complex is currently undergoing renovations. Image: Courtesy of Sedina A. Ackuayi, The Harvard Crimson

To modernize and enhance the functionality of its nearly century-old chemistry laboratory complex, Harvard University is undertaking significant renovations at the Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) Department, located on Oxford Street in Cambridge, MA. The renovations, which began in May 2024, focus on upgrading the complex's aging electrical infrastructure and addressing critical drainage issues, with a completion date set for December 2025. These improvements are essential to support the department's growing research needs and mitigate the impact of climate change, including frequent flooding and sewage backups in the CCB courtyards.

Lab Design News spoke to Jonathan Palumbo, senior director of communications and engagement at Harvard College, about the scope of the renovation projects, the challenges faced, the efforts to limit the impact on active research labs and teaching, and the long-term benefits these upgrades will bring to Harvard’s scientific community.

Q: What were the specific challenges with the aging electrical infrastructure that prompted this renovation, and how will the new electrical hub address these issues?

A: The current electrical infrastructure is a time capsule of approximately 75 years of construction that created the CCB complex. A lot of the current infrastructure is past its useful service life, is a remnant of previous eras that do not meet current safety standards, and lacks the capacity required for current and future research types. The new project will provide new electrical infrastructure to consolidate each building’s power sources through a modern double ended substation which will then feed out to new main electrical gear for each building in the complex, that will power the downstream panels and outlets. This new equipment will most importantly be fully code compliant and current with university safety standards, provide capacity at the different voltages that modern research equipment needs, and will provide decades of resilient service life to the researchers in the complex.

Q: How did you arrive at the decision to renovate an existing, older building vs. build a new one?

A: The buildings that make up this complex are historic and noteworthy; demolition and a new building was not an option. They are also functional as current laboratory spaces, but the existing electrical and stormwater infrastructure issues were apparent and needed to be addressed. Constructing a new building is far more disruptive to the mission of science than replacing the ailing infrastructure. The project construction plan was based around completing the replacement of the infrastructure components while minimizing impact on the lab groups and the important day to day work that is taking place in each lab in the complex.

Q: How will the upgrades to the standby power systems enhance lab functionality and safety, especially for ongoing research projects in the complex?

A: Existing standby power provided to the labs is ad hoc and grew organically as specific equipment required backup power; this project will formalize standby power with building-specific panels and routing.

Q: What measures are being implemented to ensure minimal disruption to research and teaching activities during the renovation process?

A: The project has provided a completely new 13.8KV service with transformer to refeed the existing electrical gear in each building so that the new distribution can be completed, tested, and brought online with the least number of shutdowns possible to achieve the changeover of old to new equipment. Major shutdowns are the biggest source of disruption for labs and teaching spaces. The bulk of the shutdowns will also take place over long weekend period and are being phased by building to limit risk while reenergizing power onto the temporary system. The planning of these shutdowns with the construction team has been ongoing for approximately six months prior to execution to ensure a safe and efficient operation. Effective communication of a very refined process is the most effective form of disruption mitigation.

Q: How does Harvard plan to integrate sustainable or climate-resilient design practices into this renovation to address the increased frequency of “100-year storms”?  

A: The stormwater elements of the project are to protect the building from flood events caused by larger and more intense storm events in the future, and to make the site and the buildings more climate resilient.

Q: In addition to the drainage and electrical upgrades, are there any other infrastructure improvements planned to support faculty research and meet modern lab standards?

A: This project is focused on primary electrical distribution upgrades.

Q: With the renovations spanning across multiple buildings, how is the team managing the coordination and timing of phased construction?

A: The project has schedules and logistics plans that phase the execution of the work with procurement of materials in mind, because of the temporary 13.8KV system and minimized shutdowns the complex will experience less disruption day to day. There are areas that will be impacted in order to repurpose some existing spaces to house large components of new the infrastructure. Those areas have been identified and individual occupants that are impacted by those operations will be notified early and accommodations will be made to free the space up for construction. However, the design and construction planning were thoughtful to minimize the need to create new spaces. Just like all projects, there are temporary walls and mitigation strategies to separate the building occupants from construction activities. There are also many projects happening in the complex in addition to the infrastructure upgrades. FAS has hired a consultant to manage communication and organize other safety aspects between all the projects to ensure that there is a holistic look at the project activities and their impacts on the complex.

Q: Could you share more details about the accessibility improvements in the laboratory and how these upgrades align with Harvard's broader goals for inclusivity?

A: Accessibility is not part of this renewal project, but is being designed and implemented on a building-by-building basis. Converse [Chemistry Lab] is the first building to be addressed, which will be followed by Mallinckrodt [Chemistry Lab] in the near future.

Q: Looking ahead, are there plans for ongoing assessments or updates to infrastructure as research needs evolve and climate impacts potentially increase over time? How will you evaluate the success of this project once it is completed?

A: As research needs change, the infrastructure will be reassessed, or alternate locations will be sought. Success of this project will be measured by the lack of events that impact the occupants from unanticipated events. The stormwater upgrades will manage storms and effectively eliminate flooding and backups into the building for any size event. The electrical upgrades will mitigate unplanned shutdowns for issues with existing equipment, provide ease of connection of new lab equipment in both capacity and desired voltage of lab groups to facilitate changing research needs.