National Yiddish Book Center

Located adjacent to Hampshire College’s campus in Amherst, MA,the National Yiddish Book Center is a cornerstone institution to the College’s new “Cultural Village” Initiative. Winter Street created an addition which houses a new multi-purpose room which can be transformed into a community meeting space, or performance hall along with climate controlled book storage, student center, gallery, kitchen, reading rooms, collaboration rooms, and administrative offices. The project was designed and built using sustainability practices with emphasis on day lighting, energy optimization, with geo-thermal heating/cooling and interior products. Being a cultural and educational institution, special consideration was paid to user experience in the space, with comfort, ease and an environment of learning as part of the core fundamentals to this project. This project was completed in the fall 2009, and is the National Yiddish Book Center hub for continued community development and cultural learning through the “Cultural Village” initiative at Hampshire College.