Sills Hall Renovation Earns National Architecture Honors

Bowdoin's newly renovated Sills Hall is earning national recognition, receiving three awards for a transformation that preserves the historic character of the building while creating modern, accessible spaces for teaching, learning, and collaboration.

The project, designed by architecture and engineering firm HGA, was recently named a winner of a 2026 American Architecture Award by the Chicago Athenaeum.

Now in its thirty-second year, the annual awards program recognizes excellence and innovation in American architecture.

Sills Hall was honored in the schools and universities category, among more than 150 projects selected from a shortlist of 500.

The recognition follows a national award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) in September.

Sills Hall was named the large-firm winner in the community category of the organization's 2026 FOCUS Project Awards, which recognize projects demonstrating the impact of design on communities, wellness, sustainability, and diversity.

The renovation has also received a 2026 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota, one of eight such awards presented statewide. Recognized in the renovation and restoration category, the project also received citations for design excellence in energy, well-being, and integration.

Completed in 2025, the renovation reimagined the interior of Sills Hall, a McKim, Mead, and White building constructed in 1950 that had remained largely unchanged for more than seventy years.

The project preserved the building's original footprint and much of its familiar exterior appearance while introducing more natural light, flexible classrooms, accessible entrances, and spaces designed to encourage interaction between students and faculty.

Among the improvements are nine classrooms, twenty-two faculty offices, open study and collaboration areas, and a new elevator that makes the building fully accessible. A recessed outdoor terrace and tall south-facing windows bring daylight into the lower level, while upgraded mechanical systems, high-efficiency windows, and other improvements enhance energy efficiency.

The renovation introduced architectural details inspired by the original building, including barrel-vaulted ceilings and warm wood finishes, balancing historic preservation with contemporary academic needs.

HGA, which also designed Bowdoin's award-winning Barry Mills Hall and the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, led the Sills Hall project. JF Scott Construction Company served as general contractor, with landscape architecture by Stimson.