Features

UC Berkeley’s latest building project isn’t a new structure but renovations to an old one—Campbell Hall, now called Durant Hall—recognized as a landmark by city and state and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The university’s Department of Facilities Services this week posted a call for an architect for the projected $7.5 million renovation of Durant Hall, the original home of Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley’s law school. 

After the law school moved to new quarters in 1951, the hall was renamed for Rev. Henry Durant, the university’s first president, and became home to the Department of East Asian (formerly Oriental) Languages and its East Asiatic Library. 

The current tenants are slated to leave in the coming year, and following the renovations, the building will be used to house offices of the university administration. 

The three-story reinforced neoclassical concrete structure was designed by John Galen Howard, creator of many landmarked buildings both on and off campus, and was completed in 1911. 

The renovations include division of the 23,737-square-foot interior into administrative rather than classroom-sized subdivisions, structural upgrades to current building and fire code standards and modifications needed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, nine years before it was also designated a City of Berkeley landmark. 

The deadline for architects to apply is Jan. 4 at noon.