Designed at Hacin + Associates in collaboration with David Hacin, Scott Thomson, and Matthew Arnold
A flagship for Mayor Thomas M. Menino's vision for the waterfront Innovation District, the Boston Innovation Center will be the first freestanding city-sponsored innovation center of its kind in the country. The building will be a highly visible symbol of a city that is welcoming innovation.
The Boston Innovation Center will be the first project built for Boston Global Investors’ 23-acre waterfront development, Seaport Square. It will serve as an anchor in this emerging district, a natural gathering place adjacent to an MBTA Silver Line station, a Hubway bike-sharing location, and parking.
Built on the site of the former waterfront railyards, the building’s architecture is inspired in both material and form by the industrial and nautical architecture that used to characterize this area. The building has two basic parts: a long low bar that references the train cars that used to fill the railyards, and an angular shell that picks up on the materials and shapes of the boats and warehouses of the shipping industry.
The landscape design, by Reed Hilderbrand, will incorporate birch trees at the perimeter to help insulate the building from traffic and parking areas, while public plazas will maintain clear connections to the adjacent parks, one of which is already complete. A pathway directly adjacent to the Innovation Center will connect the MBTA stop on Seaport Boulevard to the Institute of Contemporary Art on Northern Avenue.
A flagship for Mayor Thomas M. Menino's vision for the waterfront Innovation District, the Boston Innovation Center will be the first freestanding city-sponsored innovation center of its kind in the country. The building will be a highly visible symbol of a city that is welcoming innovation.
The Boston Innovation Center will be the first project built for Boston Global Investors’ 23-acre waterfront development, Seaport Square. It will serve as an anchor in this emerging district, a natural gathering place adjacent to an MBTA Silver Line station, a Hubway bike-sharing location, and parking.
Built on the site of the former waterfront railyards, the building’s architecture is inspired in both material and form by the industrial and nautical architecture that used to characterize this area. The building has two basic parts: a long low bar that references the train cars that used to fill the railyards, and an angular shell that picks up on the materials and shapes of the boats and warehouses of the shipping industry.
The landscape design, by Reed Hilderbrand, will incorporate birch trees at the perimeter to help insulate the building from traffic and parking areas, while public plazas will maintain clear connections to the adjacent parks, one of which is already complete. A pathway directly adjacent to the Innovation Center will connect the MBTA stop on Seaport Boulevard to the Institute of Contemporary Art on Northern Avenue.
The 12,000 SF facility will include a restaurant that will be open to the public; a flexible assembly space with a capacity of 250 seats; a gathering space with lounge seating and worktables; and several flex spaces called “pods”, meant to support a variety of uses including meetings, classes, and exhibitions.
The building will function in a number of different ways for the City, the district, and its everyday users:
FLAGSHIP FOR THE CITY:
a highly public building that will symbolize Mayor Menino's vision for the Innovation District
URBAN ACTIVATOR:
creating vitality and generating interest; a constantly evolving urban lab to explore methods of activation
NODE ON A CULTURAL CORRIDOR:
a “library” for a new generation; a digital and physical information center for Boston’s innovation economy
VISIBLY SUSTAINABLE SHOWCASE:
a participatory exhibit to teach visitors how to live in a more sustainable way
FLEXIBLE, FUNCTIONAL + FUN:
easy to reconfigure, and a space that users can personalize and connect with directly
The building will function in a number of different ways for the City, the district, and its everyday users:
FLAGSHIP FOR THE CITY:
a highly public building that will symbolize Mayor Menino's vision for the Innovation District
URBAN ACTIVATOR:
creating vitality and generating interest; a constantly evolving urban lab to explore methods of activation
NODE ON A CULTURAL CORRIDOR:
a “library” for a new generation; a digital and physical information center for Boston’s innovation economy
VISIBLY SUSTAINABLE SHOWCASE:
a participatory exhibit to teach visitors how to live in a more sustainable way
FLEXIBLE, FUNCTIONAL + FUN:
easy to reconfigure, and a space that users can personalize and connect with directly
