Commendation Project name: John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Project overview: Founded in 1970 to advance transportation innovation for the public good, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center has long been known as the “best-kept secret in Cambridge,” a gated site where cutting-edge research took place.
Conceived as a vertical campus, the new 410,000-square-foot building consolidates the Volpe Center under one roof, with laboratories, data centers, offices, and workplace amenities that were once spread across several structures. For the first time in decades, the design for this new vertical campus empowers the center to reveal itself, and its work, to the streetscape for the first time.
Sited on four acres of the original campus, the headquarters engages the streetscape with green spaces; a three-story, transparent entrance that provides views inside from the street; and six garage doors, which enable the street-facing lab spaces to host demonstrations.
The project achieves LEED Platinum certification through a holistic approach to energy-efficient design, where the facade and orientation play a major role. The building takes the form of two rectangular shapes—a larger base for floors one through three followed by a setback above, all clad in different configurations of glass and aluminum on each side. In response to Cambridge’s unique climate challenges, these configurations are designed to take full advantage of daylighting while preventing glare. A visually striking arrangement on the eastern and western facades features vertical plates shaped like the fins of an aircraft—merging performance with the building’s identity.
Project location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Firm name: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Architect of Record: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Completion: 2023
Client: General Services Administration (GSA)
Jury comments: Although the effect is subtle, the sun shading on the building is both aesthetically appealing and useful for lowering energy needs. This extremely refined building includes interior wayfinding and graphics that are excellent. The project has a good site design and the sun shading is the primary character-defining element. The design notably provided significant green space at the perimeter of the site where it did not exist previously—100% native vegetation was used, including 130 canopy and understory trees.
