Green Good Design Awards Tell a friend

Designers: FXCollaborative
Client: Boston Properties
General Contractor: Turner Construction Company
Photographers: Anton Grassl/Esto

As the last building in Boston’s Prudential Center complex, 888 Boylston Street creates a new front door to one of the nation’s most vibrant urban developments.

At 17 stories and nearly half a million square feet, this mid-rise tower is a light touch on the environment and community, delivering enhanced workspaces that enrich its Bay surroundings and adding a kinetic, sustainable symbol to the Boston skyline.

The building’s mid-rise height and defined tripartite base-body-crown structure create a presence befitting its important location and cluster of civic and commercial identities, gracefully transitioning from Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood to its high-rise spine.

Its design is a reinvention of the “commercial palazzo” with light-filled spaces, three floors of retail, and sustainable elements throughout.

Designed from the outside in and inside out, 888 Boylston Street is a paradigm of the new workplace—one whose focus on optimum occupant health and productivity is provided through multiple strategies.

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, and a high-efficiency chilled beam HVAC system uses 100% fresh air intake to optimize fresh air delivery in the interior environment.

Living planted walls in the lobby, panoramic views of the Charles River, skygardens on individual floors, and a landscaped roof garden further promote biophilia and wellness by encouraging a connectivity between the interior and exterior.

888 Boylston Street exists in balance and harmony with the Prudential Center, the city of Boston, and the larger environment, achieving LEED Platinum certification with a score of 86 points.