Boston Properties Tabs Pickard Chilton to Design Google Tower in Cambridge
Boston Properties' new development at 325 Main is replacing an existing four-story commercial office and retail building at the site, formerly known as 3 Cambridge Center. The new building comprises approximately 375,000 gross square feet of new office space and 42,000 gross square feet of retail space at the lower levels.
CAMBRIDGE, MA—Developer Boston Properties has selected New Haven, CT-based architectural firm Pickard Chilton to design the 16-story 417,000-square-foot office tower for Google that is expected to break ground here later this year.
The tower to be designed by Pickard Chilton at 325 Main St. in Cambridge will serve as Google’s new Cambridge headquarters in the heart of Kendall Square. Boston Properties announced in February it had signed a 15-year lease with the technology giant for 362,000 square feet as additional office space for its growing Cambridge office operations.
“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Boston Properties with this exciting new project in Cambridge, and design a dynamic, next-generation work environment where future tenants, such as Google, can grow their businesses,” says Pickard Chilton principal Anthony Markese, FAIA. “With its activated ground and second floor retail along Main Street and Kendall Plaza, 325 Main will greatly enhance the public realm in Kendall Square. The addition of a several new pedestrian connections and a multi-level public terrace will further open the space between adjacent buildings and public areas.”
Boston Properties’ new development at 325 Main is replacing an existing four-story commercial office and retail building at the site, formerly known as 3 Cambridge Center. The new building comprises approximately 375,000 gross square feet of new office space and 42,000 gross square feet of retail space at the lower levels. Construction of 325 Main is expected to begin later this year with completion expected in 2022.
325 Main is targeting LEED-NC Gold certification. The building’s shape is conceived as a parallelogram, opening the space between the adjacent buildings and public areas. Articulating its massing, a series of inset “apertures” provide interest and balance, while creating outdoor terraces, , Pickard Chilton officials note.
Connecting 325 Main and the 355 Main St. building where Google currently has office space, a sloped “gasket” element will create a visual distinction between them while preserving the latter’s architectural integrity. Upper floors along Main Street have been pulled away from 355 Main St. to distinguish the visual separation. A glass façade, comprising spandrel, frit and vision glass and metal panels, will articulate the building.
325 Main is Pickard Chilton’s second project with Boston Properties in the Kendall Square neighborhood; the architecture firm designed 145 Broadway, a 19-story, 454,000-square-foot office building for Akamai that is opening in late 2019.
Pickard Chilton’s recent completed projects include: the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons in Milwaukee; River Point in Chicago; 1144 Fifteenth in Denver and Eaton House in Dublin, Ireland. Current projects include the Global Gateway Shinagawa and Y2 Projects in Tokyo; the Plieninger Straße 140 Development in Stuttgart, Germany; Norfolk Southern’s new headquarters in Atlanta; Avocet Tower in Bethesda, MD; 2+U in Seattle and, Canal Place for Dominion Energy in Richmond, VA, as well as commercial and residential developments in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
The Google expansion is just part of the high-tech, e-commerce growth taking place in the Cambridge-Boston market. Late last month, Amazon broke ground on its 17-story, 525,000-square-foot office building in the Seaport district of Boston.