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02/05/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 02/05/2026 13:06

A Peek Inside What’s Happening at Warren Towers

A Peek Inside What's Happening at Warren Towers

Photos record progress on BU's three-year, $550 million renovation

University News

A Peek Inside What's Happening at Warren Towers

Photos record progress on BU's three-year, much-anticipated renovation

February 5, 2026
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BU Today recently got an exclusive tour of Boston University's biggest construction project, the renovation of Warren Towers, alongside BU's Planning, Design & Construction team.

Work this semester continues on Tower A, scheduled to reopen to incoming freshmen in fall 2026. When it does, residents will find extensive upgrades, including new plumbing and security systems, air conditioning, student lounges and gathering spaces, and entirely new walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, and electrical systems.

Warren Towers, Boston University's largest residence hall-and the second-largest nonmilitary dorm in the country-comprises three towers, each 18 stories tall. Home to 1,795 students (most of them underclassmen), it was opened in 1966, although Tower C wasn't completed until a year later. The construction manager of the project is Shawmut Design & Construction.

The renovation project is expected to be completed in summer 2028. The photos below, taken on our recent tour, chart work done so far.

The view from Tower A shows crews installing and assembling scaffolding on Tower B's north, south, east, and west façades in preparation for the next phase of construction. Some preparations for Tower B's work were finished in December 2025 and will start up again in May through August 2027.

Construction continues on the new mechanical penthouse and emergency electric room atop Tower A.

Crews added new insulation to interior walls to bring the building up to current energy code, says John Barton, executive director of major capital projects, who led the tour.

Warren Towers' brick façade has not undergone major renovations since its original construction. As part of the project, the building's brick masonry will be repointed, repaired, and cleaned.

Bathrooms throughout Warren Towers will be converted from gendered multi-stall rooms to all-gender single-user rooms, each equipped with a toilet, sink, and shower. Most of the new bathrooms will be fully accessible.

Warren Towers will be fully electric. Upgrades include card-entry access for all rooms (eliminating physical keys), air conditioning in sleeping rooms and some common areas; and new dimmable LED lighting. "These new LED lights are designed so they won't spill into your roommate's side," says Barton.
Existing windows will be replaced with triple-glazed operable windows and aluminum surrounds, significantly improving the building's energy efficiency.
"All doors were replaced and widened to ensure they are ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant," Barton says. Barton says between 150 and 200 workers are on site at any given time. "As they go on, efficiency has picked up," he says. "They're also learning lessons that they'll take with them to other towers."

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Boston University published this content on February 05, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 05, 2026 at 19:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]