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Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing

About the building

The Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing comprises approximately 250,000 square feet on the corner of Everett Street and Massachusetts Avenue. The WCC was built to transform student life and learning at Harvard Law School: to improve the teaching environment, provide new spaces for student activities, strengthen the learning community and provide an attractive northern gateway to the Law School and to the Harvard University community. WCC is a model of a “green” building, and is part of the Law School’s – and Harvard’s- commitment to reducing our environmental impact and creating healthy buildings in which our community can work and learn. Built according to green building principles, it is expected to achieve LEED-NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – New Construction) Gold certification, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC’s) ranking system for green building design excellence.

The new complex houses three centers:

Wasserstein Hall

Wasserstein Hall, bordering Massachusetts Avenue, this academic center will feature a range of classrooms and other learning spaces designed for 21st century legal education.

Caspersen Student Center

The Caspersen Student Center, adjacent to Harkness Commons, will be a central gathering place for students and will serve as a home for student organizations, journals, and social activities.

Clinical Wing

The Clinical Wing, on the Everett Street side of the site, will house the School's expanding clinical programs — the educational ground where theory and practice meet.

User Guide

The WCC uses leading-edge technology to maximize the building’s energy efficiency, which means some of the building’s features may look a little different than what you’re used to. The following information highlights some of the most important tips and best practices for living and working in this space.

If you have any other questions about your new space in the WCC, or have any questions or feedback about this guide, please contact Facilities at facmgmt@law.harvard.edu or (617) 495-5521.

You may view user information by topic below, or .

Building Hours
Card Access
Mailing Address
Mail Room
Loading Dock
Phones
ITS
Media Services
Events
Windows
Shades
Temperature in Offices
Thermostats
Lighting
Filtered Water Bottle Filling Stations
Vending Machines
Recycling
Composting
Amenities Map

Building Hours

The building is accessible without card access during regular business hours, which are:

Monday-Tuesday: 7 AM to 9 PM
Wednesday-Friday: 7 AM to 10 PM
Saturday-Sunday: 9 AM to 3 PM

Outside of these hours, access to the building may be gained using your Harvard ID based on the following access levels:

All HLS students, Clinical staff and Clinical Faculty have 24/7 access to Wasserstein, Caspersen and the Clinical Wing.
All HLS staff with offices in WCC have 24/7 access to Wasserstein and Caspersen and access to the Clinical Wing Monday- Friday 8 AM to 6 PM.
All HLS Faculty who do not have offices in WCC have 24 hour access to Wasserstein and Caspersen and access to the Clinical Wing Monday- Friday 8 AM to 6 PM.
All HLS staff who do not have offices in WCC have access to the Clinical Wing Monday- Friday 8 AM to 6 PM.

Card Access

Card access is located throughout WCC inside elevator cabs, stairwells, perimeter and some interior doors. Place your HUID card next to the reader to open doors to which you have access.

Mailing Address

Mail/small packages for offices in the Clinical Wing:
6 Everett St
Cambridge MA 02138

Mail/small packages for offices in Wasserstein Hall and Caspersen Student Center:
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02138

Loading Dock (Large Deliveries):
10 Everett St
Cambridge MA 02138

Mail Room

The mail room is located in B084, in the basement of WCC. The mail room will accept and deliver all mail/packages to departments during the daily mail run. Student mail/packages will be
received, logged and held for pick up in the mail room. The mail room is open from 8AM-5PM Monday through Friday.
For mail services, please contact the mail room directly at hlsmail@law.harvard.edu or (617) 495-3171

Loading Dock

The loading dock will be open Monday through Friday 7AM – 6PM and Saturday 8AM – 1PM except University holidays. Loading dock staff will support the HLS community and their vendors. Drivers must contact recipients who will come to the dock and receive their goods or make arrangements for the vendor to deliver. All material must be picked up by, or delivered directly to departments. The department that placed the orders is responsible for the incoming shipments, manifest log, quantity and acceptance. Any shortages, overages or damages are the responsibility of the department to manage and monitor.

Deliveries are accepted by the various HLS departments and not Dock Services. We recommend that any visible damage is noted as a formal exception on the bill of lading and acknowledged with the driver's signature. If damage is present, the carton should be opened and the contents inspected. If necessary, photographs should be taken for documentation purposes.

C.O.D. shipments will not be accepted without advanced arrangements. If not they will be refused and returned to the sender.

Packages arriving at the dock with insufficient information to identify ordering departments or individual will be refused. The sender must make all arrangements for outgoing packages with various carriers and deliver the package to the loading dock for pick up.

Contact the loading dock with questions at dockservices@law.harvard.edu or (617) 498-DOCK.

Phones

Phones will be installed and set-up during your move. Due to the high volume of activity all non emergency requests will be logged and compiled to a master list for review. After all occupants have been moved into the building we will begin to address requests in the order they were received. For emergencies or questions regarding phones please contact HLS Facilities at - facmgmt@law.harvard.edu; (617) 495-5521.

ITS

For IT services, please contact ITS directly at hlshelp@law.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0722 or visit their website.

Media Services

For media support services, please contact Media Services directly at – av@law.harvard.edu, (617) 495-4840 or visit their website.

Events

If you would like to book any of the reservable rooms in WCC, please login to the HLS Room Scheduling System. If you have questions about events in WCC, contact the Office of Event Scheduling and Support at 617-495-3129 or events@law.harvard.edu.

Windows

High performance windows throughout the building provide insulation and are coated with a glaze that adjusts solar heat gain based on exterior temperature. In addition, some windows in perimeter offices on the 4th and 5th floor may be opened and closed to circulate fresh air and take advantage of outdoor temperatures. If your office has operable windows, please be aware of the following guidelines for use:

Operable windows open in two directions, tilt and turn. Windows must be closed completely and the handle returned to closed position before switching between “turn” and “tilt” modes. Failure to do so will damage the window hardware and cause the window to not work properly.

To prevent strong winds blowing windows open windows should be closed and locked when the office is unoccupied.

Your office heating and cooling system is connected to your windows and will not operate when windows are open. Make sure your window is closed and latched to activate the magnetic sensor which will enable proper temperature control functioning.

Click here to watch a VIDEO about operating your windows.

“Locked” mode:

“Turn” mode:

“Tilt” mode:

Shades

Please operate your shades to maximize energy efficiency. In winter, open shades on sunny days to maximize solar gain and close at night for insulation. In summer, close on sunny days to minimize solar gain.

Temperature in Offices

One of the building’s energy-efficiency technologies is occupancy sensors in all offices that perform lighting and temperature energy efficiency functions.

Occupancy sensors activate heating/cooling to turn on when you enter the room, and allow room temperature to drift towards unoccupied set points when room is unoccupied. There will be brief delay between entering the room and hearing the unit switch on. After being out of the office for an extended period of time, please be patient: upon your return it will take a few minutes for your space to warm up or cool down.

The Law School is committed to conserving energy and strives to operate systems efficiently. Buildings are heated to 70⁰F in winter and cooled to 74⁰F in summer. Find out more about HLS’ temperature policy here.

Please make sure fan vents are clear of obstruction to maximize airflow:

* Note for offices with operable windows: Your office heating and cooling system is connected to your windows and will not operate when windows are open. Make sure your window is closed and latched to activate the magnetic sensor which will enable proper temperature control functioning.

Thermostats

There are two types of operable thermostats in WCC. Both styles of thermostats allow occupants to control their offices within the Law Schools temperature policy. Operation and description of each thermostat is below.

If your office thermostat looks like this:

You may adjust the temperature within seasonal set points by using ˆ and ˇ buttons. Press > for enter.

Fan to circulate air (right) is controlled automatically and is turned off during “Unoccupied” hours or if you window is open. The fan speed button is not applicable. You may override the fan on during off-peak hours by pressing the sun/moon button once which will adjust temperature to the occupied settings for two hours.

If your thermostat looks like this:

You may adjust the temperature within seasonal set points by using the temperature slide.

Fan to circulate air (not shown) comes from the main air handling units. These fans automatically control during building hours.

Lighting

The occupancy sensors that control office heating and cooling also control lighting. These sensors automatically turn off lights that have been left on when room is unoccupied. Please help us conserve energy by switching lights on and off manually when you come and go; the occupancy sensor is designed to shut off lights that are accidentally left on.

In addition to occupancy sensors, another lighting energy-saving feature you may notice is a daylight sensor in some offices that minimize the use of artificial lighting. When sufficient natural daylight is obtained in your office the lights will shut off automatically. You may supplement the natural light by manually switching on your desk’s task light.

Light switches in office suites are different from what you may be used to.

GREEN LIGHT indicates lights are OFF

RED LIGHT indicates lights are ON

Filtered Water Bottle Filling Stations

Filtered water stations are located throughout the building to eliminate the need for bottled water service. Common area bottle-filling stations are listed below. In addition, there are filtered water stations in every kitchenette.

1st floor

Pub entrance
Outside elevator near Stair 3

2nd Floor:

Student Orgs Workroom Kitchenette
Entrance to Caspersen Student Center

3rd Floor:

Wasserstein wing elevator bay

4th Floor:

Clinical wing elevator bay

5th Floor:

Clinical wing elevator bay