Also in the Making

601 Congress Street

VIVO has been retained as the architect for a complex office-to-lab conversion project at the former John Hancock headquarters at 601 Congress Street. Acquired by BioMed Realty, the project comprises a usable area of 500,000 SF. A double-skin curtain wall system is one of its many notable attributes, which enhances energy efficiency and provides advanced weather protection. 
A challenging aspect of the project has been the reconfiguring of its floorplate—originally created for chiefly office use—to accommodate lab and research spaces. VIVO also supervised the design of complex structural augmentations (including the composite web joists) to support additional piping and duct risers. The design team also created provisions for future reconfiguration, keeping the possible needs of future tenants in mind. To address the increased spatial requirements for large-sized lab equipment, the team turned the top two floors of the building (the 14th and 15th) into a mechanical penthouse.
The 601 Congress street building is an iconic landmark within the Seaport District. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort), which has its own set of criteria pertaining to mechanical screening, exterior façade, and visible building components. The VIVO team worked diligently and collaboratively to ensure compliance on all fronts and position this asset for next-generation scientific research activities. The project is due to complete by the fourth quarter of 2022.

Revolution Labs Tenant Improvements

Revolution Labs at 1050 Waltham Street in Lexington is a 180,000 SF new lab-ready building located within one of Greater Boston’s life science clusters along Routes 128 and 2. Developed by Greatland Realty Partners with SGA Architects and Callahan Construction, the 3 story building offers a unique opportunity for life science tenants competing for space in the region’s tight market.

Vivo Architecture has been in charge of providing design and construction documentation services for fitting out all the tenant suites throughout the building. Currently in various stages between design and construction completion, the various projects range from 65,000 SF full floor suites to 25,000 SF in multi-tenant floors. With companies such as Accent Therapeutics, Triana Biomedicines, Keros Therapeutics, and Alchemab Therapeutics to name a few, the building is leased in its entirety.

Meeting the challenge, VIVO has developed designs for several tenants concurrently, while providing early release buy-out packages minimizing lead times and addressing supply chain delays. This approach has satisfied strict move-in dates most building’s tenants require.  Under VIVO’s leadership, the design and documentation process has allowed the landlord to provide tenants with turn-key projects that meet strict budgetary and scheduling requirements while maintaining the high standards of design excellence and technical expertise VIVO is know for in the Life Science community. The first tenants will be moving in early 2023.

100 & 150 Cambridge Park Drive

Part of a larger campus of office building properties adjacent to the Red Line Alewife station and owned by Longfellow Real Estate Development, these two buildings comprise approximately 600,000 SF of combined space. Originally built for office use nearly four decades ago, the properties required upgrades to bring them to the next phase of their useful life. A conversion for Life Sciences use will achieve that goal.

As the lead design professionals and architects of record, VIVO is coordinating a large team of specialist consultants, including architectural designers, civil, structural, and building systems engineers, to name a few. In addition, our firm is leading the
long-term space planning for all tenant suites within the buildings. As an added complexity, all work is being planned and done while the building remains occupied by existing tenants. Building 100 Phase I is currently under construction, while Building 150 is in the Phase I pre-construction stage.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems

A breakthrough innovator company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is poised to become the first to commercially harness the fusion power for producing clean, inexhaustible energy. The 47-acre site in Devens, MA will be the first fusion energy campus and foster further growth in this sector.

VIVO designs the main 160,000 SF magnet factory building and corporate office headquarters, the first piece of a multi-building campus. The specialty magnets to be manufactured here are crucial for the fusion process and will be used in the energy power plant adjacent to the factory. The campus will ultimately comprise a model for future fusion power plants around the world.