Cambridge, MA
Harvard Kennedy School Roof Replacement
Scope/Solutions
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) campus consists of six interconnected academic buildings of varying height and age located around a central raised courtyard. The Pavilions project, completed in 2017, included construction of the Wexner, Ofer, and Rubenstein buildings and connected the existing Littauer, Taubman, and Belfer buildings. HKS wanted to add a rooftop amenity deck and solar panels to certain roofs, some of which had reached the end of their service life and were contributing to active leakage into the buildings. SGH served as the designer of record for a multi-year, phased roof replacement project.
SGH performed condition assessments of the existing roofs, designed roof replacements at the three original buildings (Belfer, Littaurer, and Taubman) and a new roof amenity deck with access from Rubenstein. Highlights of our work include:
- Evaluating the existing roofing assemblies by reviewing existing documents, making observations at exploratory openings, and performing an infrared survey
- Coordinating the solar panel and roof fall protection system installations
- Developing roof replacement design documents for replacing the primary roof assemblies, through-wall flashing, skylights, and the new amenity deck with curtain wall modifications and railing installations
- Helping obtain a variance from the City of Cambridge to relax insulation height requirements across the roofs to minimize interference with the existing construction
- Assisting HKS during the bid phase by providing a list of bidders, leading a pre-bid meeting, issuing meeting minutes and addenda, answering bidders’ questions, reviewing bids, and recommending a firm to execute the work
- Working with HKS to develop phasing plans and review value engineering options
- Providing construction administration services, including reviewing contractor submittals, periodically visiting the site to observe installation of the roofing and other enclosure systems, and helping the contractor address field conditions
Project Summary
Ongoing
6.5M
Key team members
