Boston University Centre for Computing & Data Sciences | KPMB Architects

Located on Commonwealth Avenue, the new building will immerse itself within the campus embracing all students while simultaneously offering a hub for 3,000 students and faculty from mathematics, statistics, and computer science departments. It will also be home to the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, a new interdisciplinary, degree-granting academic unit at the University. The Center reflects Boston University's commitment to being a leader in computing & data sciences. The official opening establishes Boston University's vitality in the city and the world while providing a superb facility for teaching and research in a 21st century university.

Paulo Rocha, Design Lead and KPMB Partner said “We’re proud to have realized a new home for the Center of Computing & Data Sciences that provides a place for ultimate connectivity, delivers on sustainability goals, prioritizes the well-being of students, faculty, and visitors, and sets a high standard for design excellence.

Working closely with Boston University and our many outstanding collaborators, we aspired to design a space that fosters innovation, animates the neighbourhood, and serves as a beacon for the campus on the city skyline.”

Robert A Brown, President of Boston University said “We have an opportunity to lead in an emerging, important field that will impact essentially all the disciplines in the University. We wanted architecture that would signal to everyone that this is a remarkable place, and an iconic landmark for the city. This building is a physical statement about our commitment to the field. Just as the new building will be the physical center of our efforts in the data sciences, I also hope that the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences will be the connecting tissue for faculty, staff, and students working in these exciting areas.”

Dennis Carlberg, Associate VP for Sustainability at Boston University said “The Center exemplifies the cutting edge of design from its architecture to the strategies used to meet the goals of our Climate Action Plan. The drive for energy efficiency enabled the shift from burning fossil fuels to using the thermal capacity of the earth as a battery for heating and cooling. This building provides a powerful example for ourselves and others for how to build for a carbon free future. It is a symbol of climate leadership.”

The Design of the Boston University Center for Computing & Data Sciences The design maximizes opportunities for collaboration, interconnectivity, and innovation while bringing sustainability to the forefront. A center designed around the digital world requires a strong emphasis on human-centered design.

The exterior is characterized by a 19-storey cantilever volumed silhouette that rises 305 feet into the sky with eight green terraces to connect the Center to the natural environment. The façade—composed of a series of angled and diagonal louvers—takes direction from the site’s unique sun patterns. While contributing to the building’s distinctive linear aesthetic, these design elements also contribute to comfort and sustainability efforts, keeping the building warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

The podium is extended to occupy most of the Commonwealth Avenue frontage to complete the streetscape and generate maximum ground floor animation on the Avenue. Highly transparent and porous, it functions as an urban porch for arrival, study, and gathering. The Center is conceptualized to function as ascending academic neighborhoods with bottom floors devoted to math and statistics, middle floors for computer science and the top floors for interdisciplinary work and public space. A central atrium unites faculty and students in a collaborative spirit and an interconnected staircase emerges from the area weaving upwards 8 floors to connect various disciplines, nurture cross-pollination of ideas and spark serendipitous encounters.

Open interior spaces take advantage of the Center’s unique position in the heart of Boston, with expansive river views afforded from three sides of the building. Classrooms and collaboration spaces are illuminated with an abundance of light with floor to ceiling windows to remind students enveloped in the digital realm to remain inspired by the natural world and remember the link between technology and humanity. What’s more, whiteboard walls throughout the core stimulate collaborative ideation while putting processes on display.

The state-of-the-art building includes 12 classrooms, 2 computer labs, a cafe on the ground floor, numerous collaboration spaces and a plaza with a covered bike shelter. Natural light is optimized throughout all spaces in the building. The stacked campus culminates in a spectacular event space and pavilion at the top level that fosters collaborative engagement and offers expansive views of the city.

The design sets an ambitious new sustainability precedent for future academic buildings in Boston and beyond. In line with Boston University’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce the institution’s carbon emissions to zero by 2040, the Center is targeted to attain LEED Platinum, and is 100% fossil-fuel free with a geothermal closed-loop system that heats and cools the building through a ground source heat pump system.

The building draws on renewable and alternative energy sources, including solar panels, ground water recharge system and cutting-edge exterior shading systems.

Lead Architects: Bruce Kuwabara (design partner), Marianne McKenna (partner-in-charge), Luigi LaRocca (founding principal), Paulo Rocha (design partner), Lucy Timbers (senior associate, project manager), David Smythe (senior associate), Kael Opie (senior associate), Tyler Loewen (associate), Melissa Ng (associate), Matt Krivosudsky (associate), Tyler Hall, Amin Monsefi, Victor Garzon, Samantha Hart, Nicholas Wong, Olivia di Filice, Jason Chang, Fotini Pitoglou, Carolyn Lee (senior associate), Kayley Mullings, Arminé Tadevosyan

Photography: Tom Arban - tomarban.com

Other participants
BR+A Consulting Engineers (MEP,IT), Entuitive + LeMessurier Consultants (structural), Entuitive (building envelope), Turner & Townsend (cost), Richard Burck Associates Inc. (landscape), Dot Dash (lighting), Transsolar (climate engineering), The Green Engineer (LEED), Nitsch Engineering Inc (civil), Soberman Engineering (elevator), Jensen Hughes (fire and life safety, accessibility), Haley & Aldrich (geotechnical, geotheramal), Acentech (acoustics/a.v.), RWDI Inc (environmental engineers), Learch Bates (façade access), Robbie McCabe Consulting (hardware), Ricca Design Studios (food services), Entro Communications (signage), Brian Ballantyne Specifications (specifications)