Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Harvard Announces Replacement Facility for Native American Program

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/26/26

Key Takeaways

  • Harvard will begin construction this spring on a new 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building to serve as the central hub for its Native American Program, set to open for the 2027–28 school year.
  • The facility will include academic, social, and cultural spaces—such as offices, lounges, kitchens, and outdoor areas for ceremonies—supporting the program’s broad community and educational activities.
  • The new building replaces a deteriorating 19th-century structure deemed beyond repair and will incorporate Native-inspired design elements, including materials and symbolism reflecting cultural heritage.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that construction will begin this spring on a new home for its Native American Program, according to university news. The 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building will stand three stories and serve as the central hub for the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP)—both its academic and social components. The building will open in time for the 2027–28 school year.

Amenities will include offices, reception and recreation lounges, kitchens, a conference room, and a covered front porch and rear deck. The basement will play home to storage and mechanical space, and outdoor areas will provide space for cultural programming and ceremonies, the news story reports.

HUNAP’s current facility was built in 1873 and acquired by the university in 2023. A feasibility review found that the building’s structure was deteriorated beyond hope of renovation and that renovating the existing structure would “essentially require the construction of a new building within the shell of the existing building,” according to the Harvard Crimson.

HUNAP is a multi-school initiative within the university whose work encompasses “Native American studies, history, and cultural engagement, including academic programming, community events, research and travel grants, and tribal diplomacy efforts.” The facility’s design will invoke Native materials and symbolism; the exterior façade draws inspiration from tree bark and wampum.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.

  • S4L Announces 2026 Education Design Showcase Winners

    Spaces4Learning is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 Education Design Showcase! Now in its 27th year, the annual awards program honors innovative solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction across K–12 and higher education.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.