Upward Momentum in Boston's South End

321 Harrison Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts

Located in the heart of Boston’s historic South End, 321 Harrison Avenue offers eight stories of lab, office, and ground-level retail space atop an existing three-level parking garage.

The new building contributes to the upward trend in development in South End’s newest neighborhood, affectionately named “Ink Block.”

With the core-and-shell and retail completed and several SMMA-designed labs already in use, 321 Harrison has become home to some of Boston’s most enterprising life science and biotech companies.

321 Harrison evokes the rich cultural legacy of the South End. The neighborhood is known for its public spaces, architecture, and its relationship to the arts. 321 Harrison’s design activates the street level by creating a walkable urban experience, extending into its surroundings with a new streetscape and retail spaces.

The mid-block lobby provides a street-level connector space from Harrison Avenue to Washington Street. Informed by the BPDA’s Harrison-Albany Corridor Strategic Plan, the design carves a two-story lobby space directly between the existing office building at 1000 Washington and the new tower.

The lobby features a specially commissioned artwork by local artist Nedret Andre, inspired by the evolving geography of Boston. The interior design’s look and feel captures the eclectic mix of the surrounding neighborhood.

Full Story: Connecting Past and Present Through Art

Reimagined for Labs

With the arrival of a new developer, BioMed Realty, SMMA was asked to reimagine the building—originally built as an office-only space—as a world-class laboratory and office hub. This called for creativity on the part of our lab designers and engineers. Drawing upon their depth of experience in multi-use lab/office design, the team adapted the entire eight-floor space for lab and office facilities that meet the specific needs of a wide range of potential life science and biotechnology tenants. As a result, 321 Harrison is well-placed to attract and retain many of the Boston area’s most innovative science companies.

All eight floors boast a multi-use, easy-to-reconfigure lab/office layout. Several floors are designed to accommodate either single or multi-tenant occupancies. The lab designs consist of flexible, modular spaces suited to all kinds of cutting-edge science applications. These include large open lab areas ideal for cross-discipline collaboration, as well as smaller, more private lab spaces and specialized lab rooms.

Transforming a newly built office building for lab use posed several engineering and design challenges. The first was structural: In order to provide the greater vibration resistance and load carrying capacities required for lab work, SMMA’s engineers reinforced the building’s floor structure. As an office-to-lab conversion, the project also required an approximately sixfold increase in the amount of conditioned air relative to an office space—achieved by creating room for a laboratory-grade 100% outside air HVAC system.

Another challenge was designing a state-of-the-art lab layout within a space that had been originally conceived as an office. To achieve this, SMMA’s lab team designed a modern laboratory spacing module within the framework of the building’s office-style column grid and faceted façade.

Shifting the Core

Typically, mid-rise office buildings have central cores that divide floors into two sides. Working closely with the original developer, and with a deep understanding of the site’s unique challenges in mind, SMMA designed an innovative offset core that allows for uninterrupted floorplates.

For tenants, this provides the flexibility to imagine and create a connected workplace. Shifting the core also reinforces a connection to the City, maximizing vantages of Downtown Boston and mitigating obstructed views toward the existing building.

321 Harrison Avenue floor plan, shifting the central core.

The façade features a highly visible, pleated curtainwall that subtly nods to the building’s address—the Roman numerals III II I—and coaxes depth out of a north-facing exterior.