Built for the School of Oratory in 1895, Annie May Swift Hall is one of Northwestern University’s oldest campus buildings. It was designed by Evanston architect Charles Ayers in a Venetian Gothic Style and named after the daughter of meatpacker Gustavus Swift. Its exterior is clad in a colorful mixture of brick and terra cotta, has a hipped clay tile roof and original wood windows with a rope-style molding. On the interior, an original reception room, library/lounge, Dean’s office and wood stair remain. Now housing the School of Communications, A.M. Swift Hall is an Evanston Historic Landmark.

Though well maintained, the building needed extensive rehabilitation and modernization of its classrooms, auditorium and building systems. Harboe Architects teamed with Austin, AECOM, the architects of record, to serve as Preservation Architect on the project. Our role was to oversee the exterior restoration and interior restoration of historic spaces. Masonry was cleaned and repaired, the wood windows restored and retrofitted with insulated glass and the deteriorated wood eaves were reconstructed. On the interior, historic rooms were restored and converted into modern seminar classrooms and the historic wood stair was restored. These efforts required new replica light fixtures, wood trim and an ornate fretwork wood screen at the base of the stair.

The project received the City of Evanston’s 2009 Margery B. Perkins Preservation Award and the 2010 Design Evanston Award for Rehabilitation/Renovation.