Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith and Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds today confirmed the locations of the three properties owned and operated by Harvard University Housing (HUH) that will be used to house approximately 180 students from Quincy House during the 2012-2013 academic year when Old Quincy is taken offline to be used as a test project. 

The three buildings are:  Hampden Hall at 8 Plympton Street, Fairfax Hall at 1306 Massachusetts Avenue and Ridgely Hall at 65 Mt. Auburn Street. 

In January, Smith and Hammonds announced plans to use Old Quincy House as a test project to explore design and construction options for a future system-wide House renewal project.  Quincy House consists of two buildings, Old and New Quincy. Old Quincy House, about half the size of most of the neo-Georgian Houses and without its own dining hall or master’s residence, provides a valuable opportunity to test design concepts, while limiting disruption of the House community. The plan assumes the FAS and the College will close Old Quincy for 15 months — or one academic year plus the summers before and after — beginning in June 2012. 

The approximately 180 students who will reside in the nearby swing space during that year will remain part of the Quincy House community throughout the project, and will continue eating in the dining hall in New Quincy.  A formal committee of House Masters, faculty, staff and students is examining issues related to programming for the swing space, and how students in that space will remain connected to the larger Quincy House community.  

Though no timeline for House renewal has been set, Dean Smith again reiterated the importance of the lessons that will be learned from the Old Quincy test project. 

“The House system is a cornerstone of the undergraduate experience at Harvard and renewing the Houses is an important long-term goal for the FAS,” said Smith, John H. Finley Jr. Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  “By enabling us to test design and construction options, the Old Quincy project is a critical step in the process of planning for renewal across the Houses.  Similarly, the swing space committee’s efforts will ensure that we maintain a vibrant House life for swing space residents.” 

“These three apartment buildings with modern amenities will serve as excellent swing space while construction proceeds on Old Quincy,” said Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies. “In the coming months, we will work hard with the swing space committee to create a lively and organic House atmosphere inside the three buildings, while ensuring that all students remain full participants in the life of Quincy House.” 

The three HUH buildings consist of apartments that include in-suite bathrooms, kitchens and cable hookups.  Residents of the three buildings – primarily graduate students – have already received notices indicating that the buildings will be taken offline during the 2012-2013 academic year.  While a majority of residents in these properties typically turn over from year to year, residents who wish to move to an apartment elsewhere in the HUH system will receive priority and assistance for doing so.