Reclaimed bricks are part of a regenerative design framework to ensure the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance gives more to its environment than it takes across its lifespan.
CAMBRIDGE, MA – American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University announced today that it will incorporate an original Harvard Square brick into the construction of its new home, the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity & Performance. The inscribed brick was presented to the theater by the Harvard Square Business Association as its 2026 Cornerstone Award, recognizing A.R.T.’s more-than-four-decade impact on the business district.
“The impact that you have had on our community cannot be measured,” said Harvard Square Business Association Executive Director Denise Jillson at the HSBA annual meeting and awards ceremony on March 10. “We thank you for everything that you have brought to Harvard Square.”
“Harvard Square and everyone who makes its community what it is are indelible parts of the A.R.T. The Square helped to build the A.R.T., and it will help to build our future,” said A.R.T.’s Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus at the March 10 ceremony in a pre-recorded acceptance speech that revealed the theater’s plan for the Cornerstone Award brick.
Reclaimed brick is a cornerstone of the Goel Center’s regenerative design framework to shift from simply minimizing damage to actively doing good by giving more back to its community, ecosystem, and occupants than it takes across its lifespan. Approximately 190 tons of light-colored Chicago Common Brick was reclaimed for the Goel Center’s construction to support the project’s aim to lower its overall embodied carbon impact.
The signature red brick that was formerly part of the landmark Harvard Square “Pit” will be laid among bricks salvaged from two residential buildings in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood that were slated for demolition. The reclaimed brick is being installed on the interior walls of the center’s west and east stages, public lobby, circulation walkways, and gathering areas.
The Goel Center for Creativity & Performance is designed by Haworth Tompkins (architect and design lead) and ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge (architect of record), in collaboration with theater and acoustic consultant Charcoalblue. Shawmut Design and Construction serves as the project’s construction manager. Learn more about the firms at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/A-New-Home-in-Allston/About-Our-Partners.
A blend of peer consultation and scientific contributions from across Harvard University informed a rigorous design process. Members of The Harvard Healthy Buildings Academy, the Harvard Office for Sustainability, the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Health, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design each contributed to the project.
Conceived through core principles of openness, artistic flexibility, collaboration, sustainability, and regenerative design, the Goel Center will provide interconnected, adaptable, multi-use spaces that support creativity and embrace future change. It will include two flexible performance venues—one seating 700 where large-scale productions will be produced, and a versatile and intimate 300-seat black box—light-filled rehearsal studios and teaching spaces, a spacious public lobby, a modest café, and an outdoor performance yard to host ticketed and free programming. The building will also include dressing rooms, technical shops, and administrative offices. Construction of the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity & Performance will continue through fall 2026, and A.R.T. plans to welcome audiences in early 2027.
ABOUT AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is a leading force in the American theater, producing groundbreaking theatrical experiences that catalyze dialogue and transformation. Led by Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus, A.R.T. is a Tony Award-winning creative hub, launching productions seen on Broadway, across the US, and around the world throughout its 45-year history. As the professional theater on campus, A.R.T. plays a central role at Harvard University, catalyzing discourse, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative exchange, and sharing University resources with the broader community. Driven by its value to lead with inquiry, A.R.T. builds community with audiences, artists, students, staff, and neighbors across Greater Boston, embracing theater’s power to cultivate the full breadth and beauty of our shared humanity. A.R.T. will relocate from Harvard Square to its new home in Boston, the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity & Performance in late 2026. Currently under construction, this new, inspiring center will include flexible adaptive spaces to rehearse, create, teach, and convene in community, fueling A.R.T.’s vision and creative work for years to come.
