The renovation of the Anthropology department consisted of three separate, yet related, design exercises. Jeffrey Berman Architect prepared a feasibility study and a master plan for the adaptive reuse and renovation of the existing eight-story building located on the Upper West Side Historical District. This plan discussed various options to address the client's needs based on an analysis of their program, the existing structure's limitations, the impact of a modern infrastructure, the logistics of the building's continued use during construction, zoning regulations, code requirements, schedule and budget.

The feasibility study proposed two construction projects that allowed the institution to meet their programmatic objectives and fund the projects based on their capital program. Based on the inventive design, which enabled minimal disruption of existing spaces, a grant was obtained from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Upon completion, three new floors providing 14,000 square feet of archival grade collections storage were added within the existing building.