Harvard University

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University has been a long-term client of WeatherstonBruer Associates.  We have been involved in several ongoing collection projects with the Museum.

1)       Northwest Building Collection Facility

2)       Collection Facility Assessment for the Existing Museum Building

3)       Establishing Requirements for a new Off-Site Facility

4)       Rehousing the Museum’s Entomology Collection

5)       Housing the Whale Collection at the Concord Field Station

The Museum was offered space in a new facility (the Northwest Building) being constructed next door to the original museum building.  The Museum decided this new space could best be utilized by housing a new collection facility for their currently overcrowded Mammalogy, Ornithology, Invertebrate Paleontology, Vertebrate Paleontology and Malacology collections.  The new space would provide superior environmental conditions and an opportunity for state of the art collection management facilities.

WeatherstonBruer Associates, working with the Northwest Building’s architect, the San Francisco office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, undertook a comprehensive assessment of the existing collections and their housing requirements.  WeatherstonBruer developed the programming for the new facilities and designed a wide range of different concepts to house the Museum’s collection and collection management activities.  WeatherstonBruer has been involved throughout the construction documentation, tender and construction process.

As a follow up to the Northwest building project WBA was asked to do a detailed review of the Museum’s remaining collection facilities located in the original Museum building and a number of off-site locations.  The final report details recommendations for ongoing renovations to the facilities in the original building and establishes criteria for a new or renovated off-site facility.

Following is an unprompted testimonial from one of the key members of the Harvard project team:

“I will say that from what I have seen of your work thus far, Yale's recommendation was spot on -- you have been quite a valuable addition to our design team!” — Sharalee Field - Senior Planner for the Sciences, Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.