Architectural teams selected for Kendall Square work

September 23, 2014

Provost Marty Schmidt and Executive Vice-President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz (co-chairs of the Building Committee) share teams chosen as design work is ready to begin

The East Campus/Kendall Square Gateway area represents a tremendous opportunity to create a vibrant cluster of activity. The blending of an array of uses—including innovation space, housing, childcare, retail, commercial, and space for the MIT Museum—has the unique potential to convey MIT’s and Kendall Square’s unparalleled innovative energy. Following a process of review and community input, architectural teams have been identified and design work—which will build on previous efforts—will commence.  

Site-specific design firms

This illustrative drawing conveys an approach for creating connected public open spaces within the Kendall Square development area. The parcel plan includes space for academic, commercial, and retail uses, as well as housing for graduate students—all contributing to the creation of a diverse and vibrant gateway area. The gateway is framed by spaces for the MIT Museum, an Innovation Space, and a graduate student residence building. This scheme proposes to replace Eastgate with a lab building, and to add graduate housing in a new location at the gateway, along with a new child care facility. The plan also envisions underground parking and ensures vehicular access to MIT Medical.

The formal design process will launch with a focus on Sites L, N, O, P, Q and S (described below). The programming and design for Site M, which will serve as future lab space, and Site R, which will be the site of a future academic building, will be defined later.

Site LElkus|Manfredi Architects will design the building at Site L, which will be a high-rise residential building with ground floor retail space. The building will include a mix of units, including innovation units and affordable units, to meet the diverse housing needs of the Cambridge community. Elkus|Manfredi Architects is a Boston-based firm founded in 1988 by Howard Elkus and David Manfredi. The firm has a broad base of experience in multiple building types, including residential, office, laboratory, and retail buildings, for both commercial and institutional clients. Elkus|Manfredi has worked closely with the Institute over the last several years during the early planning and re-zoning phases of the initiative.

Site NPerkins+Will will design the building at Site N, which will be a high-rise commercial office/lab facility designed to provide space for science and technology companies seeking to locate or expand in the innovation cluster around MIT. Perkins+Will is a 1,600-person firm founded in 1935 in Chicago with offices in 24 cities around the world, including Boston. The firm’s design expertise spans most building types, including institutional, residential, and office buildings. The firm’s laboratory design group comprises seasoned designers with extensive experience working with both institutional and commercial clients in the Cambridge market.

Site ONADAAA (design architect) and Perkins+Will (architect of record) will serve as the design team  for the building at Site O, which will include graduate student housing, a child-care facility, academic space, and retail space on the ground floor. NADAAA is a 25-person firm with offices in Boston and New York. Founded in 2011, NADAAA has received numerous design awards, including being ranked the #1 design firm in the US by Architect Magazine. Professor Nader Tehrani, former head of the Department of Architecture, is one of the three founding principals of the firm.

Site PWeiss/Manfredi will design the facility at Site P, which is a commercial office building that will include space for the MIT Museum on two of the lower floors, as well as ground floor retail space. Weiss/Manfredi is a 36-person New York design firm founded by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi 25 years ago. The firm specializes in architecture, landscape architecture, programming, interior design, art, and urban design for institutional, corporate, and academic clients. The firm has won numerous design awards for both its buildings and landscapes.

Site Q – The area designated as Q represents open space and underground parking. We have issued requests for proposals to landscape architects for the design of the open space, and will follow the same committee selection process we used to select architects. Perkins+Will will design the underground parking garage.

Site SnARCHITECTS will design the small building at Site S, which will include office space and ground floor retail. nARCHITECTS is a 14-person design firm based in New York City founded by Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang (MIT Class of 1993) in 1999.  The firm has won numerous design awards, including several from the American Institute of Architects.