New atria and glazed rooftop pavilions are among the alternations to a historic educational building on Princeton's campus in New Jersey, as part of a project overseen by Canadian studio KPMB.

The project entailed the renovation of a 1929 gothic-style building that formerly housed chemistry laboratories. Originally designed by American architect Charles Klauder, the three-storey, grey academic building sits between Princeton's historic west campus and its more contemporary structures to the northeast.

The university aimed to "transform the large, monolithic building into a porous, transparent and welcoming learning and research environment", said KPMB, a Toronto-based firm.

Now totalling 197,500-square-foot (18,348 square metres), the overhauled building has new tenants ? and two new names. The portion housing the university's economics department is called the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building, while the area housing the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies has been named the Louis A Simpson International Building.
The two programme areas each have their own distinct entrance ? the economic department is entered from the west, and the international space from the south. Throughout the building, visitors find a range of classrooms, offices and meeting areas.
The project entailed both renovations and new construction. The building's concrete frame and masonry facades were retained, as was a rectilinear volume on the south that had been added ...