Sills Hall, one of the most recently renovated buildings on campus, received three architectural awards recognizing the College’s efforts to preserve the building’s historic character while modernizing its academic spaces and fostering greater community interaction.

Completed in 2025, the renovation received an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, a FOCUS Project Award from the American Society of Interior Designers and an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects’ Minnesota chapter.

Director of Capital Projects John Simoneau and Capital Project Manager Sharon Ames discussed the renovation’s recognition and the challenges of updating the academic space built in 1950,  while preserving its original architectural identity.

“A lot of the architecture industry types of awards, at this point, really recognize projects that do a great job of renovation and are respectful of the original building and … give it another level of life and history,” Ames said.

The renovation incorporated additional insulation, concealed mechanical systems and improved accessibility through a universal entrance. Excavation around the building also created a terrace, allowing more natural light into previously enclosed spaces.

Beyond these structural improvements, Simoneau and Ames emphasized the addition of communal spaces designed to encourage interaction between students and faculty outside the classroom.

“At [the] prior arrangement, there was not a lot of common space that was just available for students to meet with each other, to work in small groups or meet with their faculty,” Simoneau said.

The project builds on Bowdoin’s previous collaborations with architecture firm HGA, which also designed Barry Mills Hall and the Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies. Lessons from these projects helped inform Sills’ updated classroom technology and shared spaces.

Looking toward future campus development, Simoneau and Ames emphasized the importance of maintaining places for informal academic engagement.

“We really, really need to ensure that we hold on tight to community space,” Ames said.