Architects Chosen to Plan Out Renovations of North, Cabot

Harvard chose an architectural firm Friday to plan renovations of North and Cabot Houses scheduled for the summer of 1985, officials said yesterday.

Renovations at the Quad will certainly include the same kind of restoration for other Houses, but may also include major remodeling and an addition to North House, according to Robert H. Scott, vice president for administration.

Scott explained that the architects had to demonstrate an understanding of the Harvard House system, a "complex social job." Two partners of the firm chosen, Anderson, Notter and Finegold of Boston, Maurice N. Finegold '54 and George M. Notter '55, are Harvard graduates--both will work on the project.

R. Thomas Quinn, associate dean for facilities, said that the firm's experience with restaurants was also important, because renovations might include a new kitchen and dining room for North House.

According to Nancy Goodwin, the firm's project architect. "The project is to make the House feel more like other Houses. A prime concern is to give them the common space other Houses have."

She said she would first attack the problem of the North House dining halls, which are currently divided by the kitchen and black circulation through the House.

She said her plans for the Houses would include "inserting and changing stairs to make site arrangement.

Scott said that the planning office is currently establishing a schedule for the work. "It makes the job very complex, having no more time, than the summer when the buildings are unoccupied."

Quinn said that the University and the firm had not yet negotiated a contract.

He added that the firm was not chosen with regard to cost. "We go for the best, not the cheapest," he said.

"It's very exciting, and a real challenge to make the Houses work. These Houses have such a different feel to them than the others." Goodwin said.

Quad residents complain perennially about the lack of suites and common spaces in North and Cabot Houses, former Radcliffe residences which went co-ed in 1971.

"They [North and Cabot Houses] are a strange product of a different age," said Finegold. "We hope to get a lot of interaction with students and hear a lot from them. It gives us an idea of what the problems are, and some good ideas, too."