The Center for Life Science in Boston,

Massachusetts by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates

The Center for Life Science | Boston which opened in March of 2008, is the first

of its kind in the country, a speculative, privately-owned, high-rise, multi-tenant

laboratory building that offers flexible, cutting-edge research space to leading

academic and medical institutions— Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Children’s Hospital Boston, and the Immune

Disease Institute—without the institutions’ having to spend their own capital

dollars. The 23-story building is located in the Blackfan Research District of

Boston’s renowned Longwood Medical Area, home to the highest concentration of

life science researchers in the world.

Architects: Tsoi/Kobus & Associates:

• Project: The Center for Life Science

• Location: Boston, Massachusetts

• Owner: BioMed Realty Trust, Inc.

• Developer: Lyme Properties, LLC

• Construction Manager: William A. Berry & Son, Inc.

• MEP Engineer: AHA Consulting Engineers

• Structural Engineer: McNamara/Salvia, Inc.

• Landscape Architect: Copley Wolff Design Group

• Acoustical Consultant: Shen Milsom & Wilke

• Property Manager: Douglass Cuff

• Security Director: Richard Garrity

• Building Engineer: Michael Cahill

•Software used: Given the high rise nature of the project, as well as the unusual

geometry, designing and constructing the exterior curtain wall and its supporting

structure was critical to maintain the budget and schedule. TK&A used an early

version of BIM software to describe the various design options, both in terms of

the visual geometry and the physical construction of the components and structural

attachments.

On the ground level, a two-story, multipurpose gallery, combined with access to

public amenities and below-grade parking, creates opportunities for interaction

among the building’s occupants and visitors from adjacent institutions.

Distinguished but not disruptive to the densely developed urban fabric, the

building brings a signature presence to the Blackfan Research District,

subdividing an existing super block while improving pedestrian and circulation

amenities throughout. The generous setback of the building from Blackfan Street

relieves the dense street wall while its bifurcated massing minimizes its visual

impact. The footprint increases as the building rises. A series of external and

internal pedestrian footpaths eventually will complete a connection to nearby mass

transit hubs and neighboring institutions.

The building’s double glass curtain wall façade is expressed though a dynamic interplay of

planes, curves, and notches that evoke the optimistic but challenging research taking place

within. These rhythmically organized details animate the exterior and announce its various points

of entry. During the day, the façade maintains a high degree of transparency while subtly

reflecting the daylight and sky. At night, the building is illuminated dramatically, creating a

luminous focal point to the Blackfan District.

The Center for Life Science | Boston is one of the first buildings accepted to the

U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Core and Shell Pilot Project and has

received Gold certification. At 289 feet, it is the tallest building in the Longwood

area and one of the tallest research laboratory facilities in the United States.

Though it can be seen from almost anywhere in Boston, the building conveys a

human scale at the pedestrian level, thanks to the openness of its base and to

paving that ties it to green space across the street.

Far from the fortress-like image that characterizes many other research buildings of

its scale, the Center for Life Science Boston achieves an overall effect of

integration and connection between interior and exterior environments, public and

private enterprise, and among education, research, and clinical care.

3 Blackfan Circle at night lighting up the darkness

3 Blackfan Circle sky bridge, March 2008. Photo by: Richard Garrity

3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA. 1st Christmas, December 2008-

Richard Garrity, 1st Director of Corporate Security

CLSB- 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, December 2008-

3 Blackfan Circle, The Center for Life Science, March 2008- Photo by R. Garrity

3 Blackfan Circle, The Center for Life Science, July 2008- Photo by R. Garrity