Mass General Brigham Administrative Campus

  • Location
    Somerville, MA
  • Completion Date
    2018
  • Size
    8 acres
  • Team
    Architect: Gensler
    Local Landscape Architect: Ryan Associates
    Civil Engineer: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin
    Engineer: BuroHappold
    Geotechnical Engineer: Haley & Aldrich
    Lighting Designer: HLB Lighting Design
    Irrigation Designer: Sweeney & Associates
    Signage + Wayfinding Designer: Gensler
  • Awards
    • 2018: BSLA Merit Award, Design – Partners HealthCare Administrative Campus
    • 2022: Mass General Brigham Administrative Campus Recognized with ASLA Honor Award
  • Photography
    Kyle Caldwell
Download PDF

About

This new workplace campus is an anchor in a fast-growing high-density district of Greater Boston, featuring programmed spaces for both private and public use.

Private and semiprivate courtyards adjacent to the building follow a grid established by the architecture, promoting inside-outside connections. On the southeast side of the building, an expansive green roof supports a private dining terrace shaded by nearly one hundred whitespire birch trees. These trees act as a curtain between two environments: on one side, the dining area is a clear extension of the interior, but just forty feet away, the trees create an intimate alcove.

By contrast, a 2.5-acre publicly accessible event lawn is more free-form, featuring groves of river birch, maple, ginkgo, and redwood and a winding lawn trail that encourages guests of the campus to wander and spend time outdoors. The lawn bowl collects and stores water temporarily and a system of dry creekways directs stormwater out and away from the building. Native New England prairie planting and adaptive planting, including 133 trees, work together as a biofiltration system. Together they combat wind and transit noise and, more significantly, sequester nearly forty thousand pounds of carbon annually.

The hybrid spaces signal a humanistic trend in workplace design and sustainable practices.

On the ground level, sustainable hardware such as bioswales and dry creeks is highlighted as a design feature, with walking paths purposely integrated into these natural systems.

Precisely sloped planters extend from the dining area into the alcove, where they rise to a height that supports seating.

Mass General Brigham Administrative Campus in the Lab

Mass General Brigham Administrative Campus

Mass General Brigham Administrative Campus

  • PLANTING
  • WATER
  • CARBON, ENERGY + AIR
  • SOCIAL

0

new trees planted on site

0 acres

of permeable surface was created

0 lbs

of annual carbon sequestration from new trees, offsetting 396 cars per year

0

employees were relocated to the site, activating the surrounding area/economy

PLANTING

0

new trees planted on site

WATER

0 acres

of permeable surface was created

CARBON, ENERGY + AIR

0 lbs

of annual carbon sequestration from new trees, offsetting 396 cars per year

SOCIAL

0

employees were relocated to the site, activating the surrounding area/economy