Construction of the research labs and meeting space by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and Samuels & Associates is underway in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood with expected occupancy in Spring 2023
(BOSTON) – The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University today announced it signed a 15-year lease on a new 107,000 square-foot facility located at 201 Brookline Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts to create a purpose-built facility to support the Wyss Institute’s continued growth and the next chapter of its technology translation and innovation.
201 Brookline Avenue – a project by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), the leading owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science campuses and cluster ecosystems, and its partner, Samuels & Associates – will be a 14-story, state-of-the-art building that will use the latest technology in building systems and sustainability. The building is being designed to achieve LEED® Gold, WiredScore Gold, and satisfy the preconditions for WELL Gold certification, a performance-based certification system for measuring features of a building’s environment that impact human health and wellbeing. Oversized 13-foot windows will allow natural light to permeate through the floors, while amenities such as a sky deck with views of the Charles River and the city, a conference center, and a garden terrace will make this building unique.
“The new home of the Wyss will be designed with the strong collaborative commitment of our faculty and staff in mind. It will continue to foster and inspire the innovation that the Wyss has become synonymous with, all while staying faithful to our biologically inspired roots,” stated Angelika Fretzen, Ph.D., Technology Translation Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Wyss Institute. “Elements of the space are being designed to support productivity and wellness, encouraging our teams to work the way they like, while nurturing our entrepreneurial spirit amidst an array of amenities and enhanced technology capabilities within the building.”
SmithGroup will design the 107,000 square-feet of leased space to enable the leading-edge research and technology development that are hallmarks of the Wyss Institute. The building will integrate scientific and non-scientific spaces to maximize collaboration and provoke disruptive innovation. Construction of the building at 201 Brookline is set to be completed in 2022 with construction of Wyss space to begin in Spring 2022. Currently, the Wyss Institute expects its occupancy of 201 Brookline to begin in Spring 2023.
“Our long-term commitment to this new facility is a powerful validation of the successes the Wyss has realized over the past twelve years, and our commitment to even greater success and impact in the future. This facility will provide our community with state-of-the-art labs and work spaces that are being designed specifically to facilitate collaboration and communication, and to be versatile given that the problems we are tackling today are undoubtedly different than those we will face in the future. We are excited by this opportunity to align our environment with the unique way we work so that we can be even more innovative and productive over the next two decades,” said Wyss Institute Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.