MVRDV sets its feet in Boston with a two-tower residential design near Harvard University

A new residential project in Boston from

MVRDV

and co-architect

Moody Nolan

will deliver much-needed housing accommodations for the burgeoning Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) district on the southern edge of

Harvard University

in Allston, Massachusetts.

The scheme remade a former industrial site located across from the Harvard Business School on Western Avenue into a new urban district with a 343-unit housing component (25% of which is considered ‘affordable’), new green spaces, and areas reserved for local small businesses.

Developed by

Tishman Speyer

using a master plan from

Studio Gang

and

Henning Larsen

, the district will serve as an innovation center with added laboratories, an office component, hotel, and a new conference center for the university. MVRDV says it will be sited in the middle of the plan, offering a connection to the Greenway, a two-acre open space linking to the Charles River. Local mainstays

Utile, Inc.

are also contributing to the master plan's landscape design.

The apartments will be split into two separate eight- and 17-story mid-rise blocks. The structures form a connection to

Marlon Blackwell Architects

’ adjacent hotel design through a one-story amenities suite with a gym and multiple co-working spaces.

Inside each tower, a mixture of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units are constructed in three sizes and contribute to the, what MVRDV calls, “intriguing texture” of the buildings, which are outside punctuated by small indentations and protrusions that maximize the availability of corner windows on the rusted copper colored facade.

Founding partner Nathalie de Vries says: “Designing so close to a place like the Harvard Campus is an exciting challenge — there’s an unusual mix of tradition, quality, and future-focused thinking that takes place here. With these residences, we hope to fit in with that identity. Using fine materials and detailing, our design references the local architecture while also taking on its own sleek character — an ideal place for the students and young professionals that will play a role in shaping the future here.”

Harvard says the 900,000-square-foot ERC will culminate in late-2025 or early-2026, depending on construction. The project is expected to achieve a LEED-Gold sustainability certification.

TenBerke

also recently completed a

renovation project

for Harvard Law School.

MVRDV has not provided a construction timeline for the project, which also involves landscape architect

SCAPE

and interior architect

Michaelis Boyd