Karen R. Lawrence is betting big on The Huntington’s next chapter, guiding what officials describe as the institution’s most ambitious building project yet. The plan is a sweeping overhaul of the Library that will knit the library and art museum into a more unified complex, carve out a dedicated conservation studio, expand storage for its collections and rethink some of the historic exhibition halls. Internally, the effort is branded as the Library/Art Building, or LAB, and it will reconfigure the original 1919 Library building while adding bright new research and public spaces. Groundbreaking is slated for spring 2026, timed to align with the final stretch of a major capital campaign.
According to The Huntington, the LAB will modernize roughly 83,000 square feet, with design work led by RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects) and collections-planning input from Samuel Anderson Architects. The project is set to add about 8,000 square feet of conservation studio space, introduce a new gallery devoted to the history of science and install advanced storage that can house more than 20 linear miles of books and manuscripts. The institution says the research library will remain open to scholars throughout construction.
What the LAB will change
Bringing the library and museum collections into a more integrated footprint is expected to make the Art Museum’s 38,000 works on paper easier to access for study and exhibition. The overhaul will also create a Works on Paper Study Center designed for close-up consultations and research sessions. As reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal, some of the library’s exhibition halls will temporarily close while renovation is underway, with selected library materials shifting into gallery spaces in the art museum during the construction period.
Lawrence’s leadership and background
Lawrence has been at the helm of The Huntington since 2018, arriving with a long track record in higher education. She previously spent a decade as president of Sarah Lawrence College and earlier served as dean of humanities at UC Irvine. As noted by UC Irvine News, her academic path runs through Yale for her BA, Tufts for her MA and Columbia for her PhD.
Why it matters to Angelenos
The LA500 profile of Lawrence underscores the scale of what she is managing: a 207-acre campus, about 600 staff members and more than one million visitors each year, all while pushing projects that aim to broaden access and deepen conservation work. The Huntington reports that it has already raised more than $100 million toward a $126.6 million campaign for the LAB, funding that supporters say will shore up fragile materials and make collections more usable for students, researchers and casual visitors alike.
If the Library/Art Building comes together as planned, it will reshape how The Huntington preserves, studies and shows its holdings for decades to come. It also keeps the institution, and Lawrence herself, squarely in the middle of a broader local debate over stewardship, accessibility and what the next generation of cultural spaces in Southern California should look like.
