At its June 19 meeting, the Harvard Historical Commission (HHC) once again nixed the architect’s latest design of the exterior of Town Hall addition. And, once again, it asked LLB, through building committee chairman Pete Jackson, for new drawings, to be available at HHC’s next meeting on June 26. This time the commission drew up a list of specific features they want to see in a revised drawing. Their vote was unanimous.

Jackson began the meeting by handing out copies of a packet from the architect, which included previous iterations of all sides of the addition, along with new renderings based on last week’s HHC request to “buff up the back.” But after perusing of the drawings, Ostberg declared that the board is “no closer to a solution.”

“He [the architect] hasn’t really done much.” Swanton added, “He didn’t do anything to the connector. We’ve been asking about the connector since November.”

A lengthy discussion followed, in which the members seemed to struggle to clarify their criteria for evaluation and to find consistent rationale for their decisions. End the end, the commission came up with a list of items they would like to see in a new design, which they approved unanimously.

First, they don’t want “the gasket,” by which they seem to mean the connector, the indent and glass panel that in the current proposal mark the transition from the original building to the addition. Second, they want the architect to “regularize” the pattern of windows. On the east, Ayer Road side, this means three sets of windows on each story and on the west side a third window in the upper level. Because of the interior layout, this might mean that one or more of the windows is “faux.” Rather than the classic gable of the proposal, they want to see what a hip roof looks like at the north end of the building, even though, as Jackson pointed out, the earlier iteration with a hip roof had been rejected because of an issue with air flow. For the west side, they want to see an expanded entrance, perhaps with columns, moved north so as not to be “smooshed” into the main building and with cladding under the portico, not a window. Lastly, on the north side, where the architect had made the upper middle window arched and larger than the windows on either side, they want to see an even larger window.

In addition to a vote for a new rendering which includes all these elements, the commission also needs to make a decision on the headers and number of panes in the addition windows and whether or not to add shutters to part or all of the structure. And their work must be complete by July 5, 60 days from the date the building committee filed its application.