Creating a visible science hub at City Point

180 Third Avenue

Perched along Route 128 in Waltham, Massachusetts sits the 180 Third Avenue building—the gentle curved form engages with the highway and bends into the City Point campus. Our architecture and interior design team was engaged by the developer to help attract tenants to this commercial center.

With nearly 80 feet of grade change, we designed the building to respond to the site by tucking structured parking into the base of the hill and letting the lab floors stack above, emerging from the podium with access to light and views. Inspired by the movement and speed of the highway, the façade is organized as two primary expressions. The western façade is six stories of unitized curtainwall with extruded vertical aluminum fins creating a dynamic texture. The eastern façade is composed of patterned architectural precast with ribbon windows and two-story glass expressions at the corners. We designed the garage podium façade as an undulating system of profiled fins that visually change as a viewer passes.

Interior amenities such as a basketball court, food hall, and co-working nexus are designed to attract and mix employees from the adjacent City Point buildings. Whether witnessing the façade on the highway, or interacting with the campus, our design creates a dynamic experience for passersby and occupants.