Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research: Cambridge Campus, 2015
250 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA
Designer and Master Planner: Maya Lin Studio with Bialosky + Partners Architects
Architect of Record: CannonDesign
Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Lighting Designer: Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Photography: Iwan Baan
Additional photography: Peter Vanderwarker
The design of the Novartis campus extension involved the master plan of the three building campus extension and the design of the 181 Massachusetts Avenue building.
I wanted to create a campus-like character for the Novartis community with this design. I envisioned a courtyard green-space within the compound’s interior as a counterpoint to the hardscaped plaza of Novartis’s existing buildings directly across the street; as well as to create a garden for both Novartis’s employees and the public. The 1.5-acre garden is open to the public during daylight hours. Concealed beneath the garden that slopes up one story is underground parking for the complex.
The design of the building maintains the human scale of the adjacent buildings at street level while creating a taller research tower set back from the street. The ground-floor spaces along Massachusetts Avenue are dedicated to commercial storefronts to foster a pedestrian-friendly environment that helps enliven this former undeveloped stretch along Massachusetts Avenue. The irregular street grid helped inform the curved lower section, as well as allowing me to create a distinct juxtaposition of the lower more gestural curved form and the taller rectilinear design of the tower. The tower houses the research lab with the wrap- around lower portion dedicated to offices, meeting rooms, and an auditorium and public atrium space— all focused on bringing an open working dialogue between the different science divisions.
The distinct pattern of the façades of the two parts of the building— the openings of the stone façade and the frit patterning of the glass tower— juxtaposes the natural and manmade. The patterning of the stone façade is inspired by microscopic views of organic coral or bone structure. In the design of the glass curtain wall I translated that natural patterning into a pattern of five distinct varied hues to create a mottled light activated pattern that connects in a more mathematical character to the variations in the openings of the stone. Conceptually I felt this translation of nature through a systematic and mathematically process reflects back on how science and medicine take materials found in nature and, through scientific analysis and research, translate them into new medicinal compounds.
The building has a gold LEED rating and comprises a tri-gen energy system, maximized triple glazed curtain wall system, maximized daylight and use of local and recycled and sustainable materials throughout.
Related Press:
Campbell, Robert. A Work of Art from Maya Lin on Mass. Ave. The Boston Globe (December 6, 2016)
Filler, Martin. The Quiet Power of Maya Lin. The New York Review of Books (September 19, 2016)