By JAMES STEELE
Yale’s faculty has been living in the newly renovated Kline Tower for two weeks.
Faculty members who were impacted said that, while at least two of them are happy with the renovations, there is a range of problems, including insufficient privacy and inadequate meeting space, which plague the construction. They remain optimistic about future solutions.
Kline Tower (formerly Kline Biology Tower) was closed over three years for renovations, which began in November 2018. Updates that were originally scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2022, but had been delayed by a year due to COVID-19 Pandemic. They finally finished this past summer. Before the beginning of the school year 2023-2024, the mathematics, statistics, data science, astronomy, and part of the physics departments moved into the tower.
Since the early 1990s, there has been a mixed reaction to this tower and its new design.
Sarbani Basu, an astronomy professor, said that the renovations changed the layout inside the building. Workers repiped the plumbing, moved bathroom locations, took down ceiling ventilation, and removed many structures not supporting loads. Basu says that the new space is more attractive than its predecessor.
The old tower, according to Joel Rosenbaum, a biology professor who used to work in it before the renovations, did not allow for faculty communication.
Rosenbaum said to the News that it was difficult to work inside. The building was plagued with problems from day one. You could sometimes go weeks without a coworker. “Scientists enjoy talking to one another.”
Rosenbaum said that there were 14 floors in the old building, and only 2 or 3 researchers worked on each. Researchers working on different floors seldom saw one another, and elevators that were slow was a major inconvenience.
Water would fill the building if the glass pipes that carried distilled water in the old tower broke, especially on the upper floors. Rosenbaum said that such floods occurred two or three times a year.
The tower was not conducive to teaching. Rosenbaum stated that the tower had few places to hold classes larger than seminars.
Faculty members, such as Priyamvada Natarjan, an astronomy professor, are happy with the new design, which aims to address all of these concerns and more.
Natarajan says that the building has a lot of natural lighting, which is one unexpected benefit.
Natarajan said to the News that they had done “magic”. It’s beautiful and very positive. I’m literally gushing over the natural lighting in the building because it’s so bright.
Basu said that the new building has white and glass walls and panels, which gives it a more clean and modern look.
Basu said the renovations also seemed to have resolved the issue of flooding. She said to the News, that since renovations there has been no flooding.
Rosenbaum also expressed concern about the communication of his design by adding triplet staircases. The central staircase of the building does not permit occupants to return to the floor once in the stairwell. However, triplet stairs that stretch through three departments allow them access. The triplet staircases are designed to make it easier for researchers to travel between floors.
Natarjan called the idea “brilliant” for connecting researchers from different floors.
She said, “It is just wonderful to have co-located.” The future opportunities for communication, collaboration and creating a community… are going to be fantastic.
Many of the problems raised by faculty about the former Kline Biology Tower are still present in the new Kline Tower. Basu says that elevators are still extremely slow.
Her previous office had a much smaller space. Basu used to be able to host small meetings on her meeting table in her old office, but the new one at Kline Tower does not have enough space.
Two issues are of particular concern to faculty. Basu, as well Natarajan separately listed privacy and the space needed for a colloquium among their top concerns.
There is no soundproofing because many of the internal walls in this building are made from thin glass. Conversations can be heard easily through walls. The News reported that even the designated Zoom rooms in the building for online meetings are not soundproofed: Zoom conversations may be heard by others through the walls of the glass and other conversations could disrupt them.
Natarajan stated, “This is deeply disturbing for me as the chair of Astronomy.” It’s difficult for the entire faculty because we can’t have private Zoom conversations anywhere. These aren’t soundproof at all. “They’re totally unusable.”
The building’s lack of space for a colloquium, a gathering of about 70 people with a speaker from another university is also a concern. Natarajan says that colloquiums help to keep up with the latest scientific findings and to exchange information.
Basu said that other lecture rooms on campus would also be unattractive large.
Natarajan stated that “colloquiums are a vital part of intellectual work in every Yale department.” We were promised space.
Natarajan claims that the Astronomy Department was promised space on the fourteenth floor. However, Yale Conference Services later decided to take the space. The Astronomy Department would have to pay Yale Conference Services $2,500 for each colloquium in order to gain access to the space on the 14th Floor.
Natarajan said that the cost of the colloquia held by the Astronomy Department each year would be around $67,000. This is a prohibitive price for the department.
The faculty in the building remain optimistic that these problems will be resolved.
Natarajan said, “I am actually excited about the official opening and I’m looking forward to giving everyone a chance to see it.” I am absolutely convinced [that the issues with building] will be solved”
Kline Biology Tower can be found at 219 Prospect St.
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