The Frederick S. Pardee School for Global Studies at Boston University will soon have a new home, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The 186-foot-tall building will be the tallest mass timber tower in the Northeast United States.
Located at the heart of Boston University’s campus, the 70,000-square-foot building will provide a central hub for interdisciplinary collaboration on global issues. The vertically-stacked program will concentrate the building footprint to just 10% of the site, with the remainder dedicated to a future central green.
The building will feature event and conference facilities, classrooms, faculty offices, and social spaces. Research centers will converge around double-height “living rooms” for informal gatherings and community-building, connected by a social stair.
The all-electric, fossil fuel-free design features a monolithic massing to minimize material use and energy loss. Its mass timber structural frame reduces embodied carbon by 87% compared to an initial steel-and-concrete option.
Sean A. Gallagher, Project Leader and DS+R Director of Sustainable Design, stated, “We are thrilled to be part of Boston University’s effort to make urban environments healthier, more vibrant places to live. The Pardee School of Global Studies marks a significant step toward densifying urban centers in a carbon-neutral way.”
The building is expected to be completed in 2027.
