The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard recently reached a major construction milestone. Institute leadership along with the design and construction team came together to raise the ceremonial final beam at the topping off ceremony.
To celebrate the structural completion, this final steel beam adorned with an evergreen tree was lifted into place bearing the signatures of the iron workers and team members. Rooted in the medieval northern European tradition of an offering to the forest gods for providing the framing wood, this moment marks the completion of the structure and transition to next stages of construction—the cladding and interior fit-out portions of the project.
Ragon Institute leadership took this moment to reflect upon their achievements since the Institute’s founding in 2009, and to reinforce the promise of the new building for the future of infectious disease research, particularly how well the building design reflects their open, collaborative culture.
The design team also prepared for the unitized curtainwall system installation—and its iconic integral sunshades. A sneak peek of the new atrium reveals the first section of the floating coil staircase as well as the emerging skylight shape. Everyone present remarked on the building’s unique combination of intimacy and transparency—and the scientists’ growing anticipation of their 2024 move in!
Cape Cod Community College’s Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center is a net-positive energy building designed to transform the heart of campus.
The project approaches sustainability through a holistic and global approach, implementing a range of moves including passive solar shading overhangs, air-source heat pumps, high performance materials with low embodied carbon and the expansion of the range of thermal comfort and lighting power density. Combined with on-site photovoltaics, the project achieves net-positive energy use.
The project’s thermally modified wood rainscreen façade is a study of the modern expression of vernacular Cape Cod architecture while reducing embodied carbon. Early lifecycle assessments identified the immense carbon savings of wood over fiber cement. The design team did not stop there, furthering reductions by peeling back unnecessary finishes like carpet and ceilings. Together, these decisions enabled a 19% reduction in embodied carbon.
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