The Novartis campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts is nested within an established biotechnology cluster, centered around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Novartis developed the international headquarters of its Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, complementing their campuses in Basel, Switzerland, and Shanghai.

22 Windsor Street by Toshiko Mori and 181 Massachusetts Avenue by Maya Lin were constructed simultaneously in 2015 and are interconnected by a bridge. Both structures offer extensive and architecturally diverse spaces for collaborative lab and non-lab work.

The layout of the buildings closely follows an established Novartis diagram, characterized by two massive riser cores flanking a deep open lab floor plate. Notably, there is a clear separation between the architectural "feature" spaces, such as the wood-and-glass clad meeting bubbles tracing the path of the cascading facade stair, and the generic deep lab space, which occupies the majority of each floor plate.

The lab tracts wrap around the west, north, and east sides of the building, with the majority of labs positioned along the long north facade. On the south side of the building, there are small atria featuring a ceremonial stair that connects the floors. Enclosed and semi-enclosed meeting spaces face the atrium and serve to separate the lab tract from the public areas. Two service cores house egress stairs, lifts, and shafts.

Labs facing the north are particularly deep and can be configured with lab furniture oriented in both directions ("in-length" as well as "in-depth") to accommodate various lab arrangement scenarios.

The subdivision of lab space into smaller partitioned modules is not anticipated, as it would require an additional circulation corridor north of the service cores. Such a configuration would impede direct access to collaboration areas from the lab spaces.

On the left side of the section, there is a stack of open space labs with two central service cores, surrounded by open space labs on three sides. On this side the layout is reminiscent of Novartis' Fabrikstrasse 22 in Basel. On the opposite edge of the floor plate the edge is sculpted with an elongated atrium that stretches along the facade and is intersected by a cascading staircase extending from the bottom floor to the top. The atrium gradually narrows and steps in towards the top. Collaborative spaces - bubble meeting rooms with nooks and crannies - are positioned along the boundary between the open lab space and the stair atrium.

A significant portion of the floor height is occupied by the ceiling cavity space, amounting to close to a third of the total height. In the labs, this space accommodates the lab air supply and exhaust distribution ducts, servicing the vast, uncompartmentalized lab space situated between two massive service cores.

While the lab space within the building is highly flexible, the allocation of space between lab and non-lab areas appears to be predetermined. If there is a need to increase the number of write-up/office workstations, it would require a conversion of lab space, and vice versa. The division of lab space into smaller partitioned modules is not intended as part of the design concept. Therefore, any adjustments to the distribution of space would likely involve reconfiguration rather than subdivision of the existing lab areas.

The elongated rectangular floor plate with two service cores embedded at opposite ends of the floor adheres to the typical Novartis diagram. However, a distinctive feature of 22 Windsor is the incorporation of irregular collaboration rooms positioned on the boundary between the lab and circulation zones, as well as within the lab zone itself.

This design approach creates the impression of a free and spontaneous layout, despite the fact that it is, in reality, "set in stone," or rather, "in wood."

In 22 Windsor, the division of labor between the lab architect and the star architect is evident. While the lab building maintains a generic appearance, it is animated on one side with various spatial delights and warm wooden finishes. There is a clear separation between the baroque circulation areas and the clean lab spaces, with minimal visual contact between the two.

Interestingly, office work seems to have transitioned into the lab space, leaving the lab infrastructure and the required ceiling height unused.

The building is fully glazed on all sides, with minimal decorative louvers on the exterior, providing practically no protection against the solar gain. This raises questions about the environmental impact of excessive cooling that may be required.

Completed in 2015

Floor area above ground: 26'477 m2, 7 all-lab floors

Workplaces: 520-550

Architect: Toshiko Mori with Cannon Design