A Legacy of Design Innovation: Shepley Bulfinch at 150 and Beyond

For 150 years, Shepley Bulfinch has countered the status quo with forward-thinking buildings and spaces of inspired living, learning, and healing. Since its inception the firm’s work has been at the forefront of major social movements and moments.

Innovating higher education learning environments

A foundation in higher education, established in 1884 with Harvard University’s Austin Hall, developed with advances like electric light and the formation of professional schools to train doctors. Over the last 50 years, the firm’s focus has sharpened with an expertise in libraries and science and technology facilities. Consistently artful student life design has helped institutions bring buildings to life and invigorate academic communities across the country from Stanford to the University of Notre Dame.

Putting patients first in healthcare

Coinciding with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Shepley completed Boston’s Lying In Hospital—one of the nation’s first maternity hospitals. A decade earlier, Shepley had launched a century-long partnership with Boston Children's Hospital. From New York Hospital to Tennessee Children’s, across world-class healthcare systems and through two global pandemics, Shepley Bulfinch’s enduring maternity and pediatric healthcare design expertise has influenced systems around the country to help communities meet their wellness goals.

The exhibit traces the evolution of the firm that is Shepley Bulfinch today, starting with its 1874 formation in Brookline, Massachusetts by Henry Hobson Richardson. From his foundation of the eponymous Romanesque style to the architects he helped shape through his practice, the legacy of Shepley Bulfinch ripples around the world through the buildings and spaces that touch our everyday lives.

The gallery exhibit also contains access to an anniversary-themed AdventureLab©, a self-guided walking tour that brings participants to Shepley Bulfinch-designed sites across Boston through an app by the makers of GeoCaching©. The Adventure self-guided walking tour will be available to the public through the app starting on February 28, 2024.

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