Places that Break from the Ordinary

Yale’s campus is rich in landmark attractions: the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University Art Gallery, and Woolsey Hall are striking examples. But many lower profile singular spots on campus provide space for conversation, concentration, or simply a shift in perspective. You may not encounter these spaces in your day-to-day life at Yale, but each one offers something distinctive: a Gothic nave with stained glass windows, comfortable inglenooks around working fireplaces, or a colorful lounge under the skeleton of a giant extinct fish. And with options throughout campus, you probably won’t need to go far to find one.

The Nave in Sterling Memorial Library

When the heavy wooden doors of Sterling Memorial Library seal shut behind you, they extinguish all outside noise — an ideal setting for focused work. Yale’s largest library was designed in Gothic Revival style by James Gamble Rogers, Class of 1889, with soaring ceilings and 3,300 stained glass windows — making literal the library’s role as a “cathedral of knowledge.” A renovation and restoration of the Nave in 2014 converted the card catalog space in the south aisle into study lounges, which welcome you with warm colors, soft lighting, and comfortable leather chairs.

Open daily; hours vary. No food is allowed; beverages may be enjoyed in no-spill containers.

Getting there: 120 High Street

Photo by Robert DeSanto

The Marsh Lecture Hall lobby in the Yale Science Building

The central hub for interdisciplinary collaboration on Science Hill, the Yale Science Building (YSB) is home to cutting-edge tech and scientific research that addresses some of the world’s most pressing issues. Its bright lobby, on the concourse level outside Marsh Lecture Hall, is an ideal spot to take a break — and, while the Peabody Museum next door is closed for a major renovation, to spend some time with dinosaurs and friends. Meet the Xiphactinus (an extinct fanged, bony fish), which hangs from the ceiling, marvel at the Pteranodon’s 22-foot wingspan, and have a staring contest with a horn-capped Triceratops skull. Or enjoy a hot coffee or grilled cheese from the Steep Café nearby, which boasts a view of the impeccably landscaped Sachem’s Wood. The large outdoor courtyard behind YSB, outfitted with Adirondack chairs, will make an appealing option come spring.

Open daily via Yale ID access.

Getting there: 260 Whitney Avenue. Enter from parking lot 22.

Photo by Robert DeSanto

McNay Café at Yale School of Management

Edward P. Evans Hall, home to Yale School of Management, was designed by Foster + Partners, the firm chaired by Lord Norman Foster ’62 ARCH, a Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. The building’s design emphasizes transparency and prioritizes spaces for collaboration and conversation — like McNay Café, on the main floor. The cafe features fair-trade coffee and teas and a selection of pastries, fresh fruit, all-natural snacks, small-batch yogurt, artisanal sandwiches, and fresh salads. The café is located just off an outdoor courtyard that creates an expansive sense of light and air, no matter the weather.

Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. McNay Café is cashless but accepts Eli Bucks or debit and credit cards.

Getting there: 165 Whitney Avenue, across from the Peabody Museum.

Photo by Robert DeSanto

Elm Café at Yale Schwarzman Center

Known as the Underground, the lower level of the Yale Schwarzman Center, the university’s center for student life and the arts, houses Elm Café and a small-plates dining option called Ivy. In the building’s early decades, this area was a vast, catacomb-like coal-power facility, which received its coal from a chute descending from Grove Street. Workers would load it into a cart that ran on rails to a furnace down the hall. The Underground has come a long way, but, with four working fireplaces, it’s still one of the hottest spots on campus — with excellent coffee, sandwich, and gelato options.

Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Elm Café is cashless but accepts Eli Bucks or debit and credit cards.

Getting there: 168 Grove Street; enter the café through the Woolsey Hall Rotunda or from Hewitt Quadrangle.

Photo by Robert DeSanto

Conference Center at Yale West Campus

The West Campus Conference Center — which can host both small department meetings and large-scale symposia — offers two distinct settings for those looking to break away. One is a spacious seating area just outside the café, which provides a comfortable setting for lunch or coffee and ample natural light from large windows. Upstairs, the Quiet Study Lounge is ideally situated for getting work done, with high-top tables that provide room to spread out a laptop, books, and other work or study materials. The back wall highlights the photography of 12 high school students from Greater New Haven who participated in the inaugural View From Here photography program through the Yale Center for British Art and the Lens Media Lab at the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

Open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and off-hours and weekends with a Yale ID.

Getting there: 800 West Campus Drive; requires a car or shuttle trip from Central Campus. Catch the Green or Purple shuttles for the eight-mile ride.

Photo by Robert DeSanto

First floor lounge in The Anlyan Center

On the busy corner of Congress Avenue and Cedar Street, the 457,000-square-foot Anlyan Center for Medical Research and Education comprises six floors of laboratories, a three-story education wing for teaching anatomy and histology, and facilities for magnetic resonance imaging research. The lounge is an ideal spot for coffee and conversation, with leather banquettes that face floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a year-round garden. There are also plenty of lunch options along Cedar Street, like Common Grounds, Sobol Café, and Lupi Marchigiano Bakery. No food is sold in the lounge, but you’re free to bring your own.

Open daily via Yale ID access.

Getting there: 300 Cedar Street