The mod life
Harvard University,
Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab
Allston, MA
Modular design often translates to expedited production times, and that’s true for the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab, which was completed in seven months—nearly 60% faster than traditional design.
An open, perforated metal staircase provides a visual connection between the two floors and is accentuated by dramatic art pieces that visualize the movement of synthetic neural systems.
Take a peek inside the lab, and it’s difficult to imagine that the entire facility was constructed some 400 miles away. All 34 modules that form Life Lab—a total of 15,000 sf—were fabricated in Pennsylvania over the course of three months, then transported to the campus in Allston, Massachusetts.
“The Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab is opening new doors for students, faculty, scientists, and scholars. It gives them the platform to launch new biotech startups, and be an engineer for healthcare and the environment… and it’s all right here in Allston.”
Martin J. Walsh, mayor of the City of Boston
The second-floor features 30 wet lab benches, alongside shared tissue culture rooms, fume hoods, and a cold room. A private 1,000-sf suite provides a unique space for larger teams to mentor and support start-ups.
The nearby Harvard Innovation Lab, completed in 2011 by Shepley Bulfinch, is part of Boston’s growing life sciences sector—one of the largest biotech hubs in the world. We are proud to design spaces that promote innovation to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems.
The first floor “write-up” space expands the traditional desk model into an open work environment with a variety of seating types and areas for both focused tasks and collaborative group work.
