This page is not current and is no longer updated. For current information regarding the 2020-2022 renovations, please see: https://acorjordan.org/renovations2022/
On September 30, 2019, an agreement was signed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to authorize a grant for the renovation of the American Center of Research’s purpose-built building in Amman. The center was first opened in 1986 and expanded in 2005. The 2020/21 renovation was implemented by the United Nations Offices for Project Services (UNOPS) in order to upgrade the facility, with specific attention to safety and security, disability access, gender sensitivity, and reduction of operating costs. Our furniture and equipment in the seminar room, library, archives, and study and storage spaces specifically benefited. Residential, dining, lounge, kitchens, and office spaces were also improved.
The renovations took place in two primary stages, which began in November 2020: 1) sixth, fifth, and portion of fourth floors (originally residential space, now residential and office space) and 2) the rest of the building. ACOR remained open through much of the renovations, with interruptions and limitations brought about by construction schedules and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Witness the process of our transformation, below!
Gallery- Changes ongoing in the upper library, including installation of structural support beams, new office space, and dedicated library entrance area (July 13, 2021).
Fourth-floor hostel space nearing completion (July 13, 2021).
Head Chef Ghassan Adawi in the now operative fourth-floor kitchen space while ACOR’s main kitchen on the third floor undergoes renovation (July 13, 2021).
Main ACOR kitchen (third floor) under renovation (July 13, 2021).Third-floor lobby, dining, and office spaces under renovation (July 13, 2021).
Offices by ACOR’s main entrance under renovation (third floor) (July 13, 2021).Structural supports added to the lower library (second floor) (July 13, 2021). Second-floor seminar room, now with structural beam installed (top) (July 13, 2021).
ACOR’s dining area under renovation (July 13, 2021). Adding a wall on the fourth-floor (July 13, 2021).Active addition of structural beam on second floor (July 13, 2021).
Renovations ongoing on the first floor, new structural beam visible at top right (July 13, 2021).
Laying new foundations for the building (July 13, 2021).
The current look through ACOR’s front entrance during the thick of renovations (sliding door at back leads to balcony area) (July 1, 2021). The second-floor seminar room under renovation, including preparation to install a new structural support beam (seen along bottom of image) (July 1, 2021).
The west side of the upper library (third floor) undergoing renovations, including reinforcing structural support for the building (left of picture) (July 1, 2021). The west side of the lower library (second floor) undergoing renovations. The hole in the ceiling was previously the location of a set of stairs between library floors (July 1, 2021).
The upper library spaces under active renovation (June 23, 2021).Fourth- to fifth-floor staircase under construction (June 17, 2021).
ACOR’s front offices undergoing a first round of works during renovation phase two (June 10, 2021).
The main lobby and dining areas (June 10, 2021).
Works continue on the fourth-floor (June 10, 2021).
Works continue on the fourth-floor (June 10, 2021).
Our temporary library space, located on the already-renovated fifth floor, with assistant librarian Samya Khalaf Kafafi presiding (June 1, 2021).
Entrance to the temporary library space (June 1, 2021).
Fourth-floor lounge under renovation (June 1, 2021).
Lower library under renovation (June 1, 2021).
Structural improvements taking place in the lower library, where steel beams will be added to account for additional support needed for our thousands of library books (and their ever-expanding weight)! (May 27, 2021).
Unoccupied renovated fifth-floor hostel room; hillside with Khirbet Salameh ruins visible in distance through window. (Not pictured here but present in the renovated room: air conditioning, improved storage space, see photo at right for improved bathroom) (May 27, 2021).
Renovated bathroom in unoccupied fifth-floor hostel room; new shower apparatus visible at right (May 27, 2021).
Second floor office space undergoing renovation (May 19, 2021).
Renovated upstairs kitchen space (on the fourth-floor). This will serve as the main dining area for staff and residents while the main kitchen and dining spaces on the third floor undergo renovation during the coming months (May 19, 2021).
The fourth floor North hallway nearing completion (May 6, 2021).
The lower library, with its books safely stored elsewhere, in the early phase of renovation stage two (May 6, 2021).
The southern half of the fourth-floor hallway, which leads to hostel rooms. This segment of the building is included in phase two of the renovation, with current residents now on a different floor, which was already completed in phase one (April 28, 2021).
Our steadfast resident, Dr. Robert Schick, in the temporary miniature version of library upstairs (while the main library spaces on the second and third floors undergo major works) (April 28, 2021).
Work on fourth-floor living space as part of the second phase of the renovation; this space, originally separate rooms, will be wheelchair accessible after the renovation (April 22, 2021).
Fourth floor office space nearing completion (April 22, 2021).
Fourth floor apartment space with new cabinets (April 22, 2021).
Work begins in the fourth-floor lounge area (April 14, 2021).
Early work in the second-floor seminar room (April 14, 2021).
Renovation phase two begins in the lower library, with particular focus on adding structural support for this part of the building, which houses over 45,000 volumes (April 14, 2021). Items temporarily stored in the middle of clearing the 2nd floor (basement) for second phase of the renovation (April 7, 2021).
Empty fourth floor bathroom prior to renovation (April 7, 2021).
Fourth floor hallway to offices and apartments undergoing intensive renovation (April 7, 2021).
Renovated hostel rooms on the fifth floor (April 7, 2021). The 5th floor of the hostel, looking south (April 7, 2021).Fifth floor of the hostel, looking north (April 7, 2021).Completed sixth-floor office space (April 1, 2021). A completed sixth-floor apartment bathroom (April 1, 2021).Hallway of the nearly-complete sixth floor, which will soon serve as office space for ACOR staff during stage two of the renovation (March 28, 2021). The lower library, nearly free of books in preparation for the second stage of the renovation, which will address the bottom three floors of the building, including library spaces (March 28, 2021). Facility Manager Abed Adawi in a fourth floor apartment, still in progress (March 28, 2021).Newly-installed windows in fourth floor office (facing west) (March 11, 2021). Fourth floor apartment with new windows installed, looking east toward the University of Jordan campus (March 11, 2021).
Reinforcement for central stairwell with cement now in place (March 11, 2021).
Sixth floor room, with new windows and paint, during final few weeks of Phase 1 of the renovation (March 11, 2021).
Partial walkthrough of 6th floor (March 3, 2021). Reinforcing the central stairwell (iron to soon be covered with cement) (March 3, 2021). Structural reinforcement in the form of a new ceiling beam (March 3, 2021). ACOR, view from the west, renovation equipment working on the building from the road in front. Khirbet Salameh in the foreground (February 23, 2021).
Moving books out of the lower library in preparation for renovation of floors 1–3, scheduled to begin late winter/early spring (February 16, 2021).Moving books out of the lower library in preparation for renovation of floors 1–3, scheduled to begin late winter/early spring (February 16, 2021).
Facility Manager Abed Adawi (left) and Assistant Librarian Samya Khalaf Kafafi (right) preparing books for storage in the upper library (February 16, 2021).
A library aisle, about to be boxed for storage (February 16, 2021).
Hallway on the fourth floor in the heart of renovation (February 16, 2021). Apr 413 with new floors and other signs of progress (February 7, 2021).Future admin offices (February 7, 2021).Converting former apartment to future office spaces (February 7, 2021). Looking down the north hall of 4th floor (February 7, 2021).Reinforcing the central stairwell in progress (February 7, 2021).New tile and flooring in hostel bathrooms (February 7, 2021).Expanded room 509 to make handicap accessible hostel room (February 7, 2021).New storage room (February 7, 2021).Apt 413 connection between rooms (February 7, 2021).Landing on the 5th floor (January 19, 2021).New wall for laundry room (January 19, 2021). Start of new walls for relocated laundry room (January 14, 2021).Entries for new emergency exits on north side of building (January 14, 2021).Kitchen in the director’s apartment (January, 14, 2021).Sixth floor apartments demolition and new electrical (January 7, 2021).Hostel bathrooms being re-tiled (January 7, 2021).New electrical lines being routed under the floors (January 7, 2021). Video of the sixth floor (January 3, 2021).Hostel 5th floor lounge area and former room 509 (January 3, 2021).Hostel 5th floor lounge area and former room 509 (December 27, 2020).Hostel 6th floor apartments during demolition (December 27, 2020).Demolition in the director’s study (December 22, 2020).Demolition of the director’s apartment kitchen (December 22, 2020).Demolition of the floors in the 5th floor lounge and hostel area (December 20, 2020).Demolition starting at 5th floor hostel lounge area; room 509 at right.Short video: demolition in the 5th floor hostel rooms (December 17, 2020).
The first nail and official start of renovations! (December 9, 2020).
