In the 1960s, several notable examples of brutalist architecture were built on the campus of Brown University as part of a vigorous expansion. With little real estate available, the architects M. Rosaria Piomelli and Danforth Toan of Warner Burns Toan & Lunde Architects decided to construct a high-rise library building for the Sciences Library. Contrasting with older buildings such as the late 19th century and early 20th century colonial revival houses, the Sciences Library is often seen as an intrusive addition to the campus. Architectural historian McKenzie Woodward condems the building as "overwhelm[ing] everything around it".

In 2006, the first and second floors and the basement of the Sciences Library were renovated by Architecture Research Office and Leslie E. Robertson Associates and transformed into the Susan P. and Richard A. Friedman Study Center. The third floor was renovated in 2010 and the "Science Center" was created.