City board gives approval to Allston Science Complex plans

Harvard University has received the approval from the Board of Directors of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), the city’s planning and economic development agency, for plans for the Harvard Allston Science Complex, the first new academic building of the University’s planned extended campus in Allston. Following completion of the zoning approval, construction can begin. Formal groundbreaking is expected to be in November.

The BRA board voted today (Oct. 3) in favor of the four-building complex, slated to become the new home of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and other emerging interdisciplinary scientific initiatives at Harvard. Overall, the complex will create 1 million square feet of new space for scientists and researchers.

The complex will be located on Western Avenue, just east of the intersection with North Harvard St., and is designed by Behnisch Architekten. The Stuttgart, Germany-based architects are internationally renowned for designing environmentally friendly buildings. Their world-class designs can be found around the globe, from Toronto to Dublin and from Munich to Moscow.

Designed to be one of the area’s premier models of sustainable development and “green” architecture, the project will voluntarily adhere to greenhouse gas emissions caps, producing only half of the greenhouse gas emissions of a typical laboratory building.

"I am proud that Boston will be home to Harvard's Stem Cell Institute, where scientists from around the globe will come to seek cures through revolutionary medicine," said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The mayor also noted that the facility "will have profound medical and economic impacts on our city. Its timeliness and importance cannot be overstated."