Project

Hampshire College – Yiddish Book Center

Building a Home for Cultural Preservation

TOCCI constructed a series of interconnected buildings totaling 32,000 sf on Hampshire College’s campus to support the Yiddish Book Center’s mission of preserving and sharing Jewish cultural heritage. The scope included the renovation and reconfiguration of 18,000 sf of existing space, along with a 4,000 sf curtain wall addition, carefully integrated to expand archival, exhibition, and event functions.

Location: Amherst, MA

Owner: National Yiddish Book Center

Architect: Allen Moore & Associates

Library interior with rows of book stacks under an exposed wood beam ceiling, tall windows along the wall, and steel column connectors visible in the timber framing.

Upward view of an exposed wood ceiling with crossed beam trusses and a central skylight

Adaptive Reuse Rooted in Cultural Context

TOCCI balanced renovation and new construction to adapt existing campus buildings into a functional cultural institution. The work required careful integration of archival, public, and program spaces while respecting the site’s pastoral setting and the college campus environment.

Eastern European architectural references—expressed through exposed wooden beams and peaked rooflines—were deliberately incorporated to align the building’s character with the mission of the Yiddish Book Center, reinforcing cultural continuity through the architecture itself.