Revised $1-billion Harvard science center in Allston gets BRA approval

The long stalled Harvard Science and Engineering Complex started in 2007, then stopped in 2009 when the economy did a number on the university's endowment.

The revised center along Western Avenue will feature offices for dozens of professors and hundreds of researchers and will have its own power plant.

Designed by the firm of Behnisch Architekten and located along Western Avenue, the SEC will comprise approximately 496,850 square feet, including the renovation and re-use of the existing 114 Western Avenue building and will be surrounded by approximately 70,000 square feet of green space. The project will house faculty, scientists, researchers, students, and staff from SEAS—including undergraduate concentrators and graduate students who are studying applied mathematics, applied physics, computational science and engineering, bioengineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental science and engineering, material science, and mechanical engineering.

The SEC has been designed to strengthen and complement the area's public realm by raising most of the secure laboratory space above a two-story glassy "pedestal" space that will infuse Western Avenue with transparency and activity. Within this glassy space will be an atrium extending the full height of the building and including two levels below grade, a first floor dining facility with extensive open seating available to building occupants and the public, retail space, and visible activity spaces to be used for classes and engineering student projects. The ground floor space will have multiple entrances generally open to the public during business hours and generous circulation space connecting the north and south sides of the building. On the south side of the building, the existing concrete foundation platform will be transformed into a large landscaped open space, accessible to all.