Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building / KPMB Architects

Architects: KPMB Architects
Location: Princeton, NJ, United States
Lead Architects: Bruce Kuwabara (Design Partner), Shirley Blumberg (Partner-in-Charge)
Design Team: Dina Sarhane, Rachel Cyr, Kristina Strecker, Samantha Hart
Associates: Mark Jaffar, David Smythe, Gabriel Fain, Annie Pelletier, Ya’el Santopinto, Elizabeth Paden, Victor Garzon, Clementine Chang, Carolyn Lee
Area: 197000.0 ft2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Adrien Williams

Senior Associate: David Jesson
Project Architect: Lynn Pilon
Structural, Building Envelope: Thornton Tomasetti
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection: Altieriseborwieber
Civil: Van Note-Harvey and Associates
Building Code, Fire And Life Safety: Phil R. Sherman, P.E.
Cost: Vermeulens
Specifications: Brian Ballantyne
Acoustics, Audio Visual: Cerami & Associates
Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates
Signage: Entro Communications
Heritage: Jablonski Building Conservation
Sustainability: Atelier Ten
Landscape: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Project Manager: William Zahn
Construction Manager: Barr & Barr

Text description provided by the architects. The former Frick Chemistry Laboratories at 20 Washington Road were fully renovated and with strategic new additions became the new home for key academic and administrative units at Princeton University. The Julis Romo Rabinowitz (JRR) Building houses Princeton’s Economics department and related research centers, and the University’s international initiatives are newly sited in the Louis A. Simpson International Building. This project realizes the University’s Master Plan vision to create a hub for social sciences, and transform the large, monolithic building into a porous, transparent and welcoming learning and research environment.

The building is located in the north-east precinct of the campus and occupies a prominent position east of Washington Road on Scudder Plaza – on the seam where the historic west campus meets the more contemporary east campus. The campus pedestrian pathway system was extended into this precinct as part of the landscape design, and a new south atrium and bridge entrance to the Simpson Building directly connects to Scudder Plaza. On Washington Road, the Beatrix Farrand landscape has been restored and forms the entrance court to the JRR Building. New glazed rooftop pavilions complement the heritage façade, and deliver flexible meeting and seminar rooms with remarkable views to the historic campus to the west.