Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University

The Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University is a defining landmark for the university. It transforms the skyline, meets laudable sustainability goals, and prioritizes human-centered design, maximizing collaboration and interconnectivity. The project brings together the mathematics, statistics, and computer science departments, building a community for some 3000 students, faculty, and staff. It maximizes opportunities for collaboration, interconnectivity, and innovation while bringing sustainability to the forefront. The exterior is characterized by a 19-storey cantilevered volume that rises 305 feet high and features eight green terraces to connect the Center to the natural environment. The podium extends to occupy much of Commonwealth Avenue, completing the streetscape and generating maximum ground floor animation on the street. Highly transparent and porous, it functions as an urban porch for arrival, study, and gathering. The Center is conceptualized to function as ascending academic neighborhoods with bottom floors devoted to math and statistics, middle floors for computer science and the top floors for interdisciplinary work and public space. A central atrium unites faculty and students in a collaborative spirit and an interconnected staircase emerges from the area weaving upwards eight floors to connect various disciplines, nurture cross-pollination of ideas and spark serendipitous encounters. Open interior spaces take advantage of the Center’s unique position in the heart of Boston, with unrivaled views afforded from three sides of the building. Classrooms and collaboration spaces are illuminated with an abundance of light through the triple-glazed curtain wall. Each floor is characterized by bright colours including red, green, purple, turquoise, and blue that are employed in a monochromatic fashion for furniture and surfaces to aid in wayfinding. Modular furniture systems allow for flexibility and adaptability, anticipating the needs of future faculties and student bodies while also infusing comfort for all. A central atrium on the main floor invites students from all studies into the building. What’s more, whiteboard walls throughout the core stimulate collaborative ideation while putting processes on display. The state-of-the-art building includes 12 classrooms, two computer labs, a cafe on the ground floor, numerous collaboration spaces and a plaza with a covered bicycle shelter. Natural light is optimized throughout all spaces in the building. The stacked campus culminates in an event space and pavilion at the top level that fosters collaborative engagement and offers unrivaled views of the city. The design sets an ambitious new sustainability precedent for future academic buildings in Boston and beyond. In line with Boston University’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce the institution’s carbon emissions to zero by 2040, the Center is targeted to attain LEED Platinum, and is 100% fossil-fuel free with a geothermal closed-loop system that heats and cools the building through a ground source heat pump system. The building draws on renewable and alternative energy sources, including a ground water recharge system and cutting-edge exterior shading systems.