BioMed Realty
Center for Life Science | Boston
The 22-story, 776,000-sf Center for Life Science Boston (CLSB) was the first of its kind in the US. It is a multi-tenant, speculative, high-rise research building offering state-of-the-art lab-ready space to some of the world’s leading academic medical and private research enterprises.
The building realized the highest density of translational research space to date in Boston by synthesizing best practices from the worlds of laboratory design and real estate development to create a new model for cooperation between private academic medical institutions and third-party capital resources. The CLSB provides fertile ground for academic research and private organizations to develop relationships and hybridize research more easily.
CLSB brings a signature presence to the Longwood Medical Area with a design that optimizes its tight, 1.5-acre site while respecting the urban fabric. The building subdivides an existing superblock, its setback relieves the street wall, and improves pedestrian access to amenities and circulation throughout the Blackfan District, and the Longwood Medical Area as a whole.
The angled glass curtainwall and dynamic form mitigate the building’s size and set it apart from its predominantly concrete neighbors. During the day, the façade maintains a high degree of transparency and subtly reflects the daylight and sky. At night the building creates a luminous focal point for the Longwood Medical Area.
Key Features
- Flexible, state-of-the-art modular lab and research spaces to accommodate diverse tenant needs
- Lab-ready plug-and-play building systems framework
- Fast track, up-down construction saved five months on construction schedule
- Fosters interaction and collaboration for scientists, researchers, and private institutions
- Cultivates public/private partnerships
- LEED Gold Core and Shell
- LEED for Labs prototype
