Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Complete

700 Main Street

Thomas Watson received the first phone call at this site, which is now home to innovation center Lab|Central and pharmaceutical leader Novartis.

-71.0950000000 42.3623000000
Lobby 700 Main St, Steve Dunwell

700 Main Street

700 Main Street, Cambridge, MA

Status: Complete

Themes: Innovation and collaboration
Renovation and renewal
Sustainability

Completion: 2012

Thomas Watson received the first phone call at this site, which is now home to innovation center Lab|Central and pharmaceutical leader Novartis.

Overview

Lobby 700 Main St, Steve Dunwell
Courtyard at 700 Main Street, Steve Dunwell
Facade 700 Main St, Steve Dunwell
Facade 700 Main St, Steve Dunwell
Facade 700 Main St, Steve Dunwell

Status

Complete

Completion Date

2012

Themes and priorities

Innovation and collaboration
Renovation and renewal
Sustainability

The 700 Main Street site in Cambridge has long been a hub of innovation. In 1834, Kimball & Davenport produced the first center-aisle train cars here. A half century later, Thomas Watson sat in this building and heard words spoken by Alexander Graham Bell across the river in Boston, completing the first two-way long-distance phone call in history. The Polaroid camera was invented on this site, and the building has since been home to several tech and biotech companies.

In 2002, MIT converted 700 Main Street from an industrial building to a state-of-the-art life science facility, a renovation that re-used original materials and maintained the structure’s historic character. The building was further renovated in 2012, including an interior transformation that has helped attract new and innovative life-science tenants.

The building is now partially occupied by Lab|Central, a nonprofit innovation center dedicated to creating the next generation of biotech companies by providing space, resources, and a collaborative environment for startups. The remaining space is occupied by Novartis, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing innovative and affordable treatments to patients around the world.

The renovations at 700 Main Street have enlivened the space, preserved the building’s historic elements, and enhanced its position in the growing innovation campus around it. 

Image credits

Steve Dunwell

Details

Address

700 Main Street, Cambridge, MA

Use

Commercial

Project Team

Architect: LAB / Life. Science. Architecture, Charlestown, MA and Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Boston, MA
Construction manager: The Richmond Group, Hopkinton, MA
MIT team: Ken Williams (MITIMCo)

Scope

170,000 gsf

Map

42.3623000000
-71.0950000000
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