Projects: Office Facilities

One Broadway Lobby, Cambridge, Mass.

RETROFIT TEAM

INTERIOR ARCHITECT: Elkus Manfredi Architects

GENERAL CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Moriarty

ACOUSTICS: Cavanaugh Tocci Associates Inc.

MEP ENGINEER: Vanderweil

LIGHTING DESIGN: HDLC Architectural Lighting Design

ART CONSULTANT: Emily Santangelo

MATERIALS

The following is a sampling of materials used in the project:

ACOUSTIC WALL PANEL: Xorel Artform by Carnegie

RUGS, LOUNGE AREA: Oryza by GAN

RECEPTION DESK CLADDING: Delform

DRAPERY BEHIND RECEPTION DESK: Malta by Carnegie

WOOD AT THE BANQUETTE, STAIRS AND PLATFORM: reSAWN TIMBER Co.

LARGE PIVOT “GARAGE” DOOR: Turner Exhibits Inc.

THE RETROFIT

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investment Management Co. (MITIMCo) pursues long-term investment returns for MIT, sustaining the school’s world-class education and cutting-edge research. The One Broadway office tower is part of MITIMCo’s real-estate portfolio.

Incorporating techniques from hospitality design, the 4,500-square-foot lobby feels warm and welcoming. Tenants and guests can choose from a variety of intimate, collaborative seating options to use for work and meeting clients.

Design highlights include:

• The custom-designed reception desk designates two security check-ins while being a single, cohesive design element.
• The lobby forges connections to a ground-floor restaurant via a wall-size, glass garage pivot-door. Designed for flexibility, the door opens to transition the lobby into a lounge-like extension of the restaurant, accommodating parties and corporate events.
• Wall treatments, furniture, built-ins, light fixtures, and drapery create definition between the seating and work areas within the large single space, eliminating the need for building additional walls or structures, maintaining the sense of openness.
• Seating options begin at the entry with a wooden banquette that leads visitors to other seating areas behind reception. Located directly behind the translucent curtain backdrop separating the reception desk from the seating behind, a touchdown high-top table with bar stools offers ample space for co-working and computer work.
• Tucked along an inside wall, a glass-doored conference room supports private meetings while allowing light to filter into the room.
• Acoustical solutions to the space’s challenging surfaces include colorful bands of acoustic fabric-wrapped wall tiles that provide a welcome focal point for the space, felt wall panels above the banquette, acoustic plaster on the suspended ceilings over the reception desk and acoustic tiles within the waffle ceiling openings, as well as large area rugs.
• Design touches, such as a handsome red and gray pin-striped wallcovering and a light-hearted table lamp in the passageway from underground parking, announce to all that they are entering an intriguing environment.

The pre-COVID design concept can be easily adapted to post-pandemic protocols and will continue to serve as a tenant and community amenity as initially envisioned with today’s greater emphasis on alternative workspaces within the office destination.

PHOTOS: Adrian Wilson