MVRDV-designed residential complex completes the neighbourhood character of the Enterprise Research Campus in Boston

MVRDV has completed construction of Verra, a residential complex providing 343 apartments at the new Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) in Boston. Surrounded by a mixture of laboratories, conference facilities, and a hotel, Verra’s ground floor layer of locally owned shops, cafés, and restaurants help to integrate it into Allstonway, the new public park that forms the central spine of the ERC. The project thus places residents at the heart of a vibrant district that brings together the international science and innovation community with the Allston-Brighton community. Meanwhile, behind the green façade a diverse collection of apartments offer expansive views through the design’s many corner windows, giving residents a high quality of life both at home and out in the neighbourhood.

Located across from the Harvard Business School on Western Avenue, the Enterprise Research Campus was created through a partnership between the Harvard Allston Land Company and real estate owner, operator, and developer Tishman Speyer. It aims to strengthen the relationship between academia and industry while also becoming an integral part of the Allston-Brighton neighbourhood – a place where scientists, students, entrepreneurs, and residents come together. The masterplan was designed by Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, SCAPE, and local firm Utile. The first phase includes One Milestone, a conjoined pair of education, office, and laboratory buildings, also by Studio Gang and Henning Larsen, The David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University conference centre by Studio Gang, and the Atlas Hotel by Marlon Blackwell Architects, as well as a variety of public artworks embedded in landscaped spaces designed by SCAPE.

While the goal of the ERC is to provide a vibrant hub for world-class research and entrepreneurship, it is equally invested in becoming a part of the existing Allston-Brighton neighbourhood. Situated at the heart of the campus, the ERC Residences’ 343 apartments range from studios to two-bedroom units, with 86 reserved as affordable housing for residents with incomes below Boston’s Area Median Income. Retail spaces at the base of the buildings are designed to appeal to local businesses, bringing a diverse collection of shops, cafés, and restaurants to the Allstonway – a green spine that forms part of the Greenway, a planned pedestrian route from the centre of Allston to the Charles River.

MVRDV’s design comprises one eight-storey mid-rise and a 17-storey tower, incorporating high energy and water efficiency, as well as state-of-the-art MEP systems, to target LEED-Gold sustainability certification and Fitwel certification for healthy buildings. The two buildings, as well as the neighbouring Atlas Hotel, share a one-storey plinth that includes a co-working space, a gym, a game room, and meeting rooms designed by interior architects Michaelis Boyd. On the roof of this plinth is a roof garden for residents also designed by SCAPE.

The rich green façades of the buildings are animated by sections that “push in” and “push out”, recalling the green copper-clad bay windows that can be seen in historic neighbourhoods throughout Boston. With this approach the design creates subtle variety in the façade to accentuate individual apartments and to allow several apartments to have corner windows, creating better views and letting in more light.

“This campus for innovation and research does not really come alive unless it is populated by the community as well as students and researchers”, says MVRDV founding partner Nathalie de Vries. “Verra plays a crucial role in the dynamic of the campus as a whole: it helps bring the neighbourhood in, providing high-quality homes to Bostonians, and it enlivens the Allstonway. At the ERC, research and innovation is not cold and rational – it is social, energising, and human, a true example of the 4th generation university environments that are needed to cross-fertilise science and society.”