Winthrop Center

Winthrop Center includes Boston's next great public space, a year-round gathering place programmed with events.

Located in Boston's Financial District, Winthrop Center is designed to give new definition and vitality to this part of the city. The building will be a beacon on the Boston skyline, while showing deference for the adjacent One Winthrop Square and other neighboring Art Deco-era buildings built in the 1920’s and 1940’s. Though technically one tower, the massing of the building splits into two as it rises, and each form is treated differently on the skyline.

Winthrop Center seeks to enhance and revamp the existing Winthrop Square, creating new open space to serve Boston, and linking together several other adjacent outdoor spaces. A grand new public space entitled the Connector will anchor the building and traverse the site between Federal and Devonshire streets. This space is envisioned as a year-round gathering place with programmed activities such as art shows or farmer's markets, as well as more permanent retail establishments and restaurants.

Winthrop Center will be over 1.8M sq. ft. of residential, office, and retail space, designed to LEED Platinum standards. The office component of the project will be certified Passive House, the most rigorous energy efficiency standard in the world, making Winthrop Center the largest Passive House office building in the world.

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The site’s through-block nature creates a T-shaped plan and allows the tower to relate to two different sets of context.

To the west, from Winthrop Square, a much more formal, enclosed portal threshold is utilized, creating a dramatic emergence into the Connector space. The entry scales down the overall tower so as to complement and show deference to One Winthrop Square. Above the Connector, the office portion of the building gently curves around Winthrop Square to the west, creating an inflection in the massing. The undulating nature of the curtainwall creates strong vertical impressions, and is intended to catch and reflect the light in a dynamic fashion. At the tower top, the undulation becomes more pronounced, creating a skyline presence.

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On the busier Federal Street side, a large glass entry façade in an oversized stone frame blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor space.

Connecting the through-block site will be the "Connector," a distinctive gathering place active through all seasons and a focal point for activity. This new “urban room” is intended to be inherently civic in scale and function. It is a public connector, a celebratory arcade conceived as a signature space. A mezzanine will wrap the interior to provide overlooks across the space. Full of restaurants and vendors, and a continually changing program of performance activity and public events, the space becomes a scaffold for year-round urban interaction.

An in-depth look at the design of the world's largest Passive House project.

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Press

Aug 15,2022 - BD+C Boston high-rise will be largest Passive House office building in the world Read Nov 24,2021 - Boston Business Journal Here’s the view from Winthrop Center, which will be one of Boston's tallest towers Read Oct 19,2021 - ENR Boston Area Pushes Passive House Envelope Read Jun 11,2021 - Fast Company A new Boston high-rise will be the largest office building to meet this exacting sustainability standard Read Jun 09,2021 - Archinect Winthrop Center is making progress in its quest to become the world's largest Passive House office building Read May 13,2021 - The Architect's Newspaper In Boston, the world’s largest Passive House office tower is on the rise Read Mar 25,2021 - Redshift Boston’s New Winthrop Center Takes Passive House Design to New Heights Read Oct 14,2020 - Boston Business Journal Millennium lands $775M loan for Winthrop Center Read Feb 06,2020 - Building Design + Construction Passive House picks up steam Read May 26,2019 - propmodo Millennium Partners and MIT Team up to Reimagine What It Means to Design With a Purpose Read Apr 26,2019 - Boston Magazine An Early Look into Winthrop Center’s Eco-Friendly and Tech-Savvy Interior Read Mar 26,2019 - The Boston Globe In Boston’s financial district, a skyscraper is being born Read Oct 24,2018 - Boston Business Journal Winthrop Square ground-breaking brings decade-plus long saga to a close Read Mar 01,2017 - Curbed Winthrop Square Tower Named as one of the 13 Most Important Projects in the Country Read

Scope

Design Architect Architect of Record Interior Designer

Project Team

Gary Handel, Blake Middleton, Glenn Rescalvo, Scott Chisolm, Kevin Samuels, Emil Stojakovic, Tom Florkewicz, Seth Riseman, Nathan Ellenberger, Louis Koehl, Katie Donahue, Alfred To, Stephanie Hur, Shaun Shih, Julia Leister, Sofia Anastasi, Alex Kim, Eleanor Knowles, Saksham Tikekar, Mat Leung, Youngah Ko, Enmanuel Espinal, Winna Japardi, Katie Miyoshi, Patricia Escoda

Visualizatons

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