In Boston’s Kendall Square, where dense research programs and repetitive building types define much of the streetscape, the facade of the Ragon Institute manages to make a statement. After years spread across multiple campuses, the institute—dedicated to advancing immunology and vaccine research—now occupies a unified biomedical research center, bringing together scientists from Harvard, MIT, and Mass General Brigham.
Designed by Payette, the new facility features an eye-catching facade of tapered aluminum fins that create variation and depth while enhancing energy performance. Integrated with a high-efficiency, unitized curtain wall system, the fins filter light, shape views, and hide mechanical equipment. Their variation in spacing and profile, driven by internal programs and solar exposure, brings a shifting sense of enclosure to the uniform glass between them; depending on the angle, the building appears as solid, transparent, or somewhere between.
