The latest addition to Kendall Square is a good one
New Volpe transportation center is government building at its best
CAMBRIDGE — At their best, federal buildings speak to society’s highest aspirations, representing public money well spent. At their worst, they are cut off from the rest of the urban realm and become enclaves seemingly designed by bean counters and security consultants. I am happy to report that the new US Department of Transportation John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, now open in Kendall Square, falls into the former category. In the shadow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in the heart of Kendall Square, the Volpe is conceived as a vertical campus, a venue for innovation and research in ground, water-, and airborne transit. The $530 million, 410,000-square-foot building on a 4acre site was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in September.
“We wanted to make it dignified, open, and accessible, but also a center of technical innovation,” said Chris Cooper, design partner at SOM in charge of the project. “The building has a machine-like precision to it, like the wing of an airplane. It speaks to the kind of transportation research taking place within.”
A brief backstory. The Volpe is the fruit of the Design Excellence Program, under the aegis of the General Services Administration, an agency charged with constructing and managing hundreds of millions of square feet for everything from courthouses to federal office buildings and border crossings. Conscious of the need for quality public architecture, in 1994 the agency initiated the DEP, whose roots go back to the Kennedy administration, when thenadviser Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture. Moynihan, later a New York senator, insisted that mediocre public buildings erode public trust. Even more important, in the case of foreign embassies (the design and construction of which are administered under a program separate from the GSA), Moynihan averred that fortress-like buildings send the wrong message to diplomatic friends and foes alike.
At first glance, the Volpe can be offputting. It has open glass curtain walls on its north and south façades, while vertical aluminum fins on the east and west sides seem at cross purposes with the very openness the architect touts. “The fins along the east/west façades control sunlight where it is invasive,” Cooper explained. “Meanwhile the north and south façades are open curtain walls making the most of sunlight where we want it most, namely in key tenant spaces.”
The original Volpe site was 14 acres and owned by the federal government. Under terms of a deal struck between the GSA and MIT in 2017, the new Volpe would be on four acres and the remaining 10 acres would be purchased by MIT for $750 million. The university plans to raze the outdated Volpe building and replace it with 3 million square feet of residential, office, administrative, retail, and green open space. Local firm Elkus Manfredi Architects undertook the master plan for this scheme, which was approved by the City of Cambridge, also in 2017. No demolition or construction on this project has begun as yet.
Protection against terrorist attacks is a reality for all federal facilities in 2024. But SOM has deftly crafted the Volpe’s lobby to minimize stress and promote engagement among the 1,200 or so people who will eventually occupy the building. (On the day I visited, just after New Year’s, it was as quiet as a library.) Once past an airport-like metal detecpartnership tor, you’re presented with a sun-washed set of stairs that lead to both the cafeteria and the heavily landscaped outdoor terrace. With light wood ceiling slats and ample greenery, the space has a vaguely Scandinavian feel. Places to work on laptops and eat abound. A large conference center for up to 1,000 attendees, once up to speed later in 2024, will ensure the building buzzes with activity and promotes casual interaction of employees and researchers at all levels. There are balconies on both the north and south sides, achieved by the architects subtly shifting the two main volumes. These outdoor spaces, designed by local landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand, further the metaphor of a vertical campus. “These will be the campus greens,” Cooper said.
Speaking of green, architect and artist Maya Lin was engaged by the GSA to do an earthen sculpture at the Volpe as part of the agency’s Art in Architecture program. The first link in an envisioned linear green park leading to the Kendall Square T station, “The Sound We Travel At” is not just bad grammar but mediocre place making, essentially a series of knolls with no pattern or theme that I could discern.
SOM is known for its prowess in glass curtain walls, so named because they hang off a building’s main structure and are not load-bearing. At the apogee of mid-century architecture in the 1950s, the firm could take credit for curtain-wall classics like New York’s Lever House. So if there’s one thing about the Volpe that disappoints it’s the incongruent design of the north and south façades. To the north, it’s all floorto-ceiling glass while to the south it is a horizontal banded scheme that looks like it could be any suburban office building along Route 128.
But this is a quibble about an otherwise exemplary project. Throughout the Volpe there is a jaunty assemblage of big-letter graphics designed by SOM. These are most visible at ground level along the Binney Street side, where large numerals identify mechanical doors that pivot upward to accommodate large vehicles under study. Indeed, throughout the building signage evokes motion and the getting from A to B.
Kendall Square is among the strongest real estate markets in the United States. As other cities, including Boston, suffer from a glut of office space, Kendall continues to have strong demand, especially among biotech and pharmaceutical companies. I will watch with interest as MIT redevelops its 10 acres, and whether the university comes through with its promise to Cambridge residents for public green space, unencumbered access to the Kendall Square T stop, and affordable housing.
As for the GSA and SOM, they’ve done their part and should be commended.