Coffee Bar To Open In Top Floor of New Student Center

After midnight on a weeknight, the hottest spot on campus may be the “Penthouse” of Hilles this fall.

A former den of thesis carrels and a future student-group office complex, Hilles is scheduled to re-open in September augmented with a coffee bar on the top floor, according to Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II.

The goal, McLoughlin said, is to transform the floor into a multipurpose meeting, eating, and performance space next year.

The forthcoming Penthouse Coffee Bar will offer both student groups and quad residents late-night food options and social space, and will also feature a performance space for acoustic bands attached to a practice room and recording studio, according to McLoughlin.

In addition to offering food, the top floor of Hilles will boast a variety of other student amenities according to the most recent plans. Soft seating and tables both within the coffee bar area and along the hall that adjoins the café will allow for group work and individual study, while large rooms along the sides of the floor will serve as additional performance or rehearsal space for groups. The conference rooms along the corridor opposite the coffee bar will provide student organizations with formal meeting space.

In the past, the Hilles Library suffered from low attendance, presumably due to its location. But Amadi P. Anene ’08, a member of the Committee on College Life Subcommittee on Student Organization Space, predicted the space will be popular with Quad students, and may spread to river residents as well.

“Over time, with the culture of increased collaboration in Hilles, student groups will find it a very important place to go to be seen by other students,” said Anene. “[Hilles] will become a place to put your name out there and be somebody, so to speak.”

Anene said that the café was meant primarily to “augment” student group offices rather than serve as a dining space.

In terms of décor, McLoughlin said he had wanted for the coffee bar a less corporate feel than the rest of the Hilles building which will accommodate the Quad library, Social Studies offices, and student group offices on the lower levels.

“I wanted natural elements, such as metal and wood—things that you could find in nature with colors that you would find in nature,” McLoughlin said. “The whole coffee bar sits in glass, and there’s going to be a great view.”

The food offered in the coffee bar will match this natural theme, McLoughlin said. The menu will consist of offerings such as fresh fruit smoothies, flash-frozen fruits, and flat bread pizza, as well as pre-packaged sandwiches and salads. The coffee bar will also feature dairy products and beverages from local producers.

The coffee machine that currently sits in the Maxwell Dworkin café will move to the Quad to serve the new bar next year, McLoughlin said.

McLoughlin also said that he was looking into having vending machines offering full meals, with microwaves available to heat them.

While the café would only be staffed in the evenings, coffee and vending machines could be available 24 hours a day when the facility opens. All coffee bar employees would be Harvard undergraduates.

McLoughlin said he envisioned a very student-driven space with music constantly playing in the background. Ideally, he said, student employees would bring their own iPod mixes and stick them in a dock already there.

“It sounds like a very fun idea,” said Thea L. Sebastian ’08, President of Freeze College Magazine, which will have an office in Hilles next year. ”It will be nice to have an easy source of energy food for late at night while we’re working on the magazine.”

Anene said that ultimately the success of the space would depend primarily on transportation.

“The goal is to have streamlined, uniform shuttle times across the board, so you can always expect a shuttle every 15 or 20 minutes,” said Anene. “Better transportation would sort of incentivize use of Hilles.”

—Staff writer Elaine Chen can be reached at chen23@fas.harvard.edu.