The transformation of the Wellesley College Science Complex was the most ambitious building project in the institution’s modern history, and the Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) has recognized it with a 2023 Built Design Excellence Honor Award in the Education Facilities category.

Citing the project’s careful mix of removal, renovation, and addition, the BSA identified the modernization of the buildings and its LEED Platinum certification as essential to creating an inviting, sustainable hub for science.

“The project submission told the story of this complex reinvention of Wellesley’s science hub extremely well and hit all Design Excellence objectives,” the jury wrote. “The team took an outdated science facility that had been added to many times and consumed more energy than any other building on campus and transformed it into a state-of-the-art, beautifully designed center with different nodes and hubs for student exploration and learning.”