MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 4 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 2 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 3 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 1 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 5 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 6 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 7 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 8 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 9 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 10 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 11 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 12 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 13 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 14 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 15 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 17 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 18 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 19 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 20 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 21 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 22 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 23 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 24 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 25 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 26 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 27 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 28 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 29 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 30 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 31 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 32 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 33 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 34 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 35 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 36 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 37 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 38 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 39 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 40 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 41 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 42 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 43 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 44 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 45 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 46 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

Beaver Works 2 47 300x206 MIT Beaver Works

MIT Beaver Works

  • location:
    Cambridge, MA
  • Date:
    Completed 2013
  • client:
    MIT School of Engineering
  • collaborators:
    General Contractor: J.Calnan and Associates, Inc.
    MEP: BLW Engineers
    Millwork: RadLab, Inc.
    Millwork: Infrastructure, Ltd.
    Millwork: Martin Design
    Millwork: Mystic Millwork
    Photography:John Horner (images 1, 4-10, 16-17, 20, 22-26, 38-39, 43, 44L)
    Photography: David Bragdon (images 18-19, 27, 31-37, 40-42, 44R, 45-46)
  • project_team:
    Principal-In-Charge: Elizabeth Whittaker
    Project Architect: Anne-Sophie Divenyi
    Project Manager: Jamie Pelletier
    Design Team: Allison Austin, Deb Katz, Parker Lee, Amy Garlock
  • description:
    MIT School of Engineering collaborated with Merge Architects to develop MIT Beaver Works, a multi-use research space for students, faculty, and technical professionals in the Tech Square hub near MIT's campus in Cambridge. Along with a research lab, the space incorporates a café/lounge area, meeting rooms, and a prototyping shop, creating a collaborative environment to engage MIT students, faculty, and researchers.

    The entry area – a lush café/lounge with built-in seating, a café bar, and a storage wall wrapped in radiatta pine plywood – functions as the social hub for the lab. Oversized custom-fabricated felt and wood light fixtures create a warm space for exchanging ideas. Research labs and flexible classrooms flank the café area, encouraging collaboration among students, faculty, and research professionals. The research area features custom-fabricated built-in seating, mobile work surfaces, and storage carts, as well as a meeting pod and a cyber-bar running along the perimeter. The classrooms feature rolling furniture and an operable partition with three layout possibilities providing small, medium, and large classroom spaces as needed for a variety of programming. Throughout the space, flexibility allows for multiple programs, from conferences and classes to events and openings, providing space for research while encouraging interdisciplinary cooperation.