Harvard University – Adams House – Claverly Hall

Custom Interior & Exterior Lighting

Project Info

Job Site Cambridge, Massachusetts
Electrical Contractor Independent Electric Supply

Project Description

Adams House is one of the twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located between Harvard Square and the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its name commemorates the services of the Adams family, including John Adams, the second president of the United States, and John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

The residential halls of Adams House (Claverly, Randolph, Westmorly and Old Russell) were originally private “Gold Coast” dormitories built from 1893-1902 to provide luxurious accommodation for rich Harvard undergraduates. They, along with the white clapboarded Apthorp House (1760), one of the most distinguished Colonial residences of Cambridge—and now the faculty deans’ residence—predate the rest of Harvard’s Houses by several decades.

Grand Light team fabricated multiple massive 47-foot stairwell chandelier, designed to be installed throughout four flights of stairs. After fabrication, the raw steel components were completed with a beautiful quaker bronze finish and new light seedy acrylic diffusers.

Additionally, new exterior lantern replications were fabricated to match the styling of an existing lantern. A close attention to detail was required for our metalworkers to accurately recreate the intricate detailing and elaborate scroll aesthetics of the original lanterns. The new fixtures’ finishes were matched with the restored lanterns, receiving a new satin black finish on all iron components. New frosted seedy glass panels were custom cut and installed in both the restored and replicated lanterns.

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