Princeton Seeks $10.7 Million Over Andlinger Center Delays

The University has filed suit against Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, co-founded by Tod Williams ’65 *67, seeking $10.7 million in damages related to cost overruns and delays in the construction of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. 

Work on the center, next to the EQuad at the intersection of Olden Street and Prospect Avenue, began in 2012 and was completed in January 2016. That was about 10 months behind schedule, according to the lawsuit, which said the design team was responsible for about half of the delay. Also named in the the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, are sub-consultants Jacobs Architects/Engineers Inc. and Jacobs Consultancy Inc. University spokesman Michael Hotchkiss said the suit was necessary to recover costs “incurred due to extensive changes and delays” caused by the companies.

The Williams/Tsien firm could not be reached for comment. But describing the project on its website, the firm said “the challenge was to minimize the environmental footprint of a program that requires a lot of energy, and to weave inviting spaces that encourage collaboration within a demanding program on a tight site.” 

The firm previously designed Princeton’s Feinberg Hall, a dorm that opened in 1986, and is working on the design of the Obama Presidential Center, planned for Chicago.