888 Boylston Street | Boston, Massachusetts | 2016

Architects: FXCollaborative
Client: Boston Properties
General Contractor: Turner Construction Company
Structural Engineer: McNamara Salvia
MEP Engineer: Buro Happold
Civil Engineer: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin
Geotechnical: Haley & Aldrich
Landscape Architect: Mikyoung Kim Design
Acoustics / AV / Telecommunications: Cavanaugh Tocci
Building Code: Hughes Associates
Specifications: Construction Spex
Elevators: Van Deusen & Associates
Lighting Design: Buro Happold
Exterior Wall Consultant: Buro Happold
Curtain Wall Manufacturer: Ferguson Neudorf Glass

888 Boylston Street is a light touch on the environment and community, and a reinvention of the “commercial palazzo” with healthy light-filled offices, three floors of retail, and sustainable elements throughout. The building’s mid-rise height and defined base-body-crown structure create a civic presence befitting its important location, gracefully transitioning from Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood to the high-rise spine. As the last site within the Prudential Center complex, 888 Boylston Street connects to the community with a welcoming, revitalized plaza, distinctive V-shaped columns that define monumentality at the base, and four “front doors” along Boylston Street to the Shops at Prudential Center, townhouse retail, offices, and a food hall.

Designed from the outside in and inside out, 888 Boylston Street is a paradigm of the new workplace—one that focuses on the occupant experience. With an offset core, 10-foot ceiling heights, column-free “ballroom” layouts, and floor-to-ceiling windows on all four façades, the design maximizes daylight penetration to enhance health and productivity in the interior environment. Panoramic views of the Charles River, skygardens on individual floors, and outdoor terraces further promote biophilia and wellness by encouraging connectivity between the interior and exterior.

Crowned by wind turbines that make a statement for sustainability in the skyline, 888 Boylston Street aims to be the highest-performing office building in New England. It features photovoltaic arrays that generate electricity, a rainwater harvesting system that reduces potable water usage, and a high-efficiency chilled beam HVAC system that uses 100% fresh air intake. Designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, 888 Boylston Street optimizes building performance and efficiency to exist in balance and harmony with the Prudential Center, the city of Boston, and the larger environment.