YLS Celebrates Baker Hall Renovation with Groundbreaking Ceremony

Christina and Robert C. Baker ’56 B.A., ’59 LL.B. were the guests of honor on October 24 for an official groundbreaking ceremony for Baker Hall, a new academic, social, and residential hub for Yale Law School. The Bakers were welcomed by Dean Heather K. Gerken and former Dean and Sterling Professor of Law Robert C. Post ’77.

The completion of Baker Hall in August 2018 will mark the first expansion of the Law School’s physical footprint since the construction of the iconic Sterling Law Building in 1931.

The Bakers and senior administrators from the Law School were led on a tour through the work site by Laura Pirie, principal of Pirie Associates, the architects of the project. The tour included architectural renderings, updates from the project’s construction firm A/Z Corporation, and views of new academic and social spaces on the first floor, which will feature a two-story lecture hall, a three-tiered student center, and community study and recreation areas.

In 2013, the Bakers led a successful $60 million campaign with an extraordinary $25 million gift to overhaul the 137,000-square-foot building that will be rechristened in their honor.

Construction on Robert C. and Christina Baker Hall began in July 2017 and is scheduled to be completed in August 2018. In addition to new academic, social, and programmatic space, Baker Hall will reintroduce residential life to Yale Law School, with apartment-style living options for students. Learn more about the project.