The Littlefield Home adaptive reuse and new addition for the UT Development office

Abstract

For my Master’s Design Study, I worked on adaptive reuse and a new addition for the Littlefield Home, a late-nineteenthcentury- Victorian-style residence, on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Like other historic buildings in briskly changing urban environments, this historic site needs some help to become a more useful campus property with no damage on its architectural character. The biggest challenge of this project was how a contemporary addition could be “compatible” but “differentiated” with the older buildings and site, following the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. This design topic has often been controversial, and architects have frequently been confused about their responsibility. My project shows advanced criteria for architects who work on architectural heritages and is closely associated with a topic of contemporary historic preservation: balancing change, preservation, and development. The Littlefield Home and new addition will create a better working environment for the UT Development Office and ensure the long-term preservation of the historic property. My Littlefield Home project will show a technical and aesthetical collaboration of contemporary architecture with historic properties.