Unicorn Park, an easy-access campus of suburban office buildings, has underutilized FAR for development while lacking a sense of cohesiveness. MP’s proposed design provides a solution to these challenges by introducing an expanded building at the terminus of a new pedestrian mall connecting all the buildings. Because this part of the campus is actually needed only as a fire lane, it can be repurposed as casual outside gathering space – ready to host food trucks, café dining, and collaboration/meeting areas. The new landscaping becomes a central campus theme, ringed by common amenities to create a heightened sense of community.
Work Category: Real Estate Development
The channel-side lot adjacent to the Fort Point area of Boston’s Seaport District is one of the largest undeveloped sites from the original 100-acre plan that remains in close proximity to downtown Boston. Working with both the owner and potential suitors, MP visualized the ultimate potential of the site and provided support in the sale of the asset.
Working in conjunction with both parties, MP proposed a new masterplan that included access to the waterfront, street level pedestrian connections with below grade parking, and building massings that accentuate both the views of and from the site while coordinating with the below-grade I-90 tunnel restrictions.
Margulies Perruzzi worked with DWS and CBRE to design a modern face to this well-known medical office building by creating new rentable tenant space, activating the rear courtyard, and repositioning the lobby.
MP redefined the entry by extending the first-floor space, including potential for a new retail tenant, to engage with the public sidewalk and streetscape. This expansion created a new, welcoming, light-filled lobby with updated amenities and a concierge/security desk. The redesigned lobby improves circulation and access to the tower above while improving the security desk’s visibility to both entries and drop off location. Existing elevators were renovated to improve access from the garage level to individual tenant floors while reducing elevator wait times.
Improved accessibility includes new at-grade entry locations and a renovated existing rear plaza to create a covered drop-off location for patients and visitors. The heavily-used garage level entrance has a new vestibule and front door for patients and tenants, providing a comfortable waiting area for visitors. This project partnered with the City of Boston to re-design sidewalks, bringing them into compliance with applicable accessibility codes.
The project required an amendment to Planned Development Area #7; MP worked closely with the Boston Public Development Agency (BPDA) and various West End neighborhood associations to build support. The project received approvals from the BPDA board and Boston Zoning commission.
Our neighborhood activation plan called for the restoration and repositioning of three historic buildings in the Seaport District. New ground-floor retail space and a new pedestrian plaza create a vibrant retail and dining destination.
Dating to the early 20th century, the neighborhood was a booming industrial area of brick and beam warehouse buildings with original openings ranging from four to six feet above today’s sidewalk, a prohibitive feature for an active modern streetscape. MP’s design lowered the floors and window openings to provide accessibility, create sight lines and visual connection from the street, and restores the historic building façades and architectural flourishes of the time. The entire team took great care in respecting the historic context of the neighborhood while activating a new retail area.
Margulies Perruzzi worked with Campanelli Companies to reposition Upland Road to appeal to tenants within the Route 128 South marketplace.
MP’s design includes a dramatic amenity street that connects the new east and west entries and offers all tenants access to the new, two-story sky-lit atrium. This central street with storefront-style tenant entrances is dotted with impromptu gathering spaces to create a community for tenants.
The large floor plates and exposed high ceilings provide tenants with open, flexible, and brightly lit spaces and can accommodate companies starting at 11,000 square feet. Multiple new exterior entrances provide convenient access to parking. New landscaped areas offer tenants seating space for outdoor meetings.
A former Polaroid manufacturing center, Upland’s dramatic revitalization includes a new full-service café, a best-in-market fitness center with a virtual ride instruction spin studio, conference facilities, and a gaming area with foosball, ping pong tables and shuffleboard.
Sustainability
This project is certified LEED-Gold.
Margulies Perruzzi provided design services for a 160,000-square-foot office building in Norwood, MA. This class A office building is LEED-Gold certified and provides office space for Hobbs Brook, as well as facilities for a medical office building tenant. Conveniently located on Route 1, the building will help to create a Hobbs Brook campus, allowing employees direct access to training facilities and other amenities in existing company buildings nearby. The building has four floors and includes a cafeteria and fitness center.
The building was designed with a central core that was split in two with a demising wall (half of the core slated for use by the tenant, half by Hobbs Brook); the intent being that it could easily become one core again in the future should the building be converted to single tenancy. There are three distinct main entries to the building, a covered front drop off for patients, a primary entry for Hobbs Brook, and an entry from the back parking lot for the tenant’s employees. In addition, one of the primary exit stairs, shared between Hobbs Brook and the tenant, was located at the front of the building and made it into a dramatic feature stair visible from the exterior.
MP worked closely with the medical office building tenant throughout the process and was able to incorporate unique programmatic elements (such as an MRI dock), seamlessly into the design. A basement was added during the construction documentation process when it was determined that the difference in elevation between level one and the required footing depth meant that it made economic sense to do so.
Sustainability
This project achieved a perfect LEED-Gold score.
Award-Winner
- Honorable Mention | Environmental Design + Construction Excellence in Design Awards
- Corenet New England Award of Excellence for Sustainability
- Project Innovations Grand Prize | Buildings Magazine
Margulies Perruzzi was retained to design 175-185 Wyman Street, a three-story office building campus comprising 335,000 square feet, as an extension of Hobbs Brook’s Wyman Street office park. The campus is comprised of two Class A office buildings with a full-service cafeteria, locker rooms, and both structured and surface parking.
The buildings are sited on one of the most highly prized and visible locations along Route 128 in Waltham. After ten years of unsuccessful development efforts by multiple owners/developers to build a single, taller building requiring a variance, MP developed a unique concept for the site. Featuring a beautifully landscaped courtyard protected from the noise of the highway, two lower buildings are unified in a “campus” setting. MP worked with the existing grades to fit parking below office levels in order to meet the developer’s requested parking counts, while still meeting tight zoning height restrictions. Large office floor plates maximize the window line, with views of the surrounding woods, the courtyard, the Cambridge Reservoir, and hills of Weston beyond.
Mill & Main was planned as a vibrant destination, drawing in both residents and workers. A beautiful courtyard connects two buildings to create a unified campus in a highly prized location.
After a major tenant moved out of the historic Clock Tower Place, the developer saw an opportunity to reinvigorate the mill building and create a new, 50-acre, mixed-use development with over 1.1 million square feet of office, retail, and open space (and plans for future adjacent residential developments).
MP’s master plan creates green spaces and sight lines to the pond. The plan envisioned boutique retail and galleries to activate the pedestrian level while visitors could stroll across a scenic boardwalk to an artisan brewpub. MP created the name Mill & Main as part of its concept to connect the old Mill building to Main Street in Maynard.
A contemporary and vibrant logo was created to help brand the property. To replace old and conflicting numbering systems, MP renumbered the buildings and significantly overhauled signage and wayfinding, including detailed kiosks that help visitors find their way.
National Development engaged Margulies Perruzzi to provide space planning and interior design services to reposition the single user office building to meet the demands of today’s tenants.
Built in 1997, the three-story 100 Crossing Boulevard required an updated look and modern amenities to reposition it as a high-quality multi-tenant building. To create an open and brighter space upon entry, MP redesigned the two-story lobby with new lighting, flooring, and glass handrails along the stair and mezzanine.
Artwork and casual seating provide an intimate lobby nook for conversation along the window line. The updated ground floor includes a new food service area with seating, a conference center, and a fitness center with locker rooms. A redesigned landscaped front walk and an outdoor patio with seasonal seating enhance the exterior main entrance for both tenants and visitors.
MP designed the new common-use food service area to accommodate a diverse mix of lunch choices from acclaimed local restaurants.
Sustainability
This project is certified LEED-Gold.
Re-named “Northwoods,” 1301 Atwood Avenue is owned by Hobbs Brook Real Estate and located on a 150-acre campus. Margulies Perruzzi developed this campus masterplan to eventually accommodate an additional 100,000 square foot building plus 50,000 square feet of retail and residential use.
Formerly occupied as headquarters for FM Global and originally built in 1972, the structure consists mostly of pre-stressed concrete beams that clear-span approximately fifty feet in each direction. The result is a unique combination of open space in large floorplates with a high percentage of perimeter glass.
Aside from the concrete structure, virtually all aspects of the building are now new. MP designed a unitized metal and glass curtain wall for the building’s envelope, providing high thermal efficiency and allowing daylight to filter deep into the building’s interior. The building achieved LEED Gold certification as all aspects of the materials, systems, landscape, and operations were designed sustainably.
As part of the repositioning of the structure to a multi-tenant building, MP designed three independent entrances, allowing for single or multi-tenant occupancy. The two-story entrances create inviting, convenient access via elegant monumental stairs.
Part of the facility’s appeal is the full-service cafeteria which spills out onto a landscaped deck overlooking expansive lawns and a nearby pond. The development also offers a shared 150-person conference center and gym.
MP subsequently provided interior architectural design services to Dassault Systèmes which occupies 90,000 square feet in the building.