Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Stratton Student Center, Building W20

Strategic improvements in the Stratton Student Center have upgraded the building and created a welcoming campus hub for wellbeing, performance arts and dance, healthy eating, and community building. 

-71.0948000000 42.3591000000
W20 Atrium rendering (Courtesy Gensler)

Stratton Student Center, Building W20

84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Status: Complete

Themes: Renovation and renewal
Enhancement of life and learning

Completion: 2023

Strategic improvements in the Stratton Student Center have upgraded the building and created a welcoming campus hub for wellbeing, performance arts and dance, healthy eating, and community building. 

Overview

W20 Atrium rendering (Courtesy Gensler)

Status

Complete

Completion Date

2023

Themes and priorities

Renovation and renewal
Enhancement of life and learning

Designed by Eduardo Catalano, then a professor of architecture at MIT, the Stratton Student Center opened in 1968; over time, the needs of the student community evolved and the building’s infrastructure aged. In response, MIT undertook a strategic improvement project to update key aspects of the infrastructure and strengthen the Student Center as a campus hub focused on wellbeing, performing arts and dance, healthy eating, and community building, where students can relax and recharge.

The project – based on plans developed with input from student working groups and community feedback – established a new Wellbeing Lab for students on the third floor and enhanced a “lounge network” to encourage informal gatherings and collaboration on each floor of the building. This network includes a new flexible lounge on the first floor, a revitalized Stratton Lounge on the second floor, and repurposed space on the fourth floor. Two fourth-floor multipurpose rooms were upgraded to accommodate dance and movement activities as well as community gatherings. 

Additional improvements to the Student Center included a new central stairway, new lights and greenery throughout the building, and refreshed spaces that incorporate warmer materials and colors. Accessibility upgrades and improvements indoors and outside were also completed as part of the project. Spaces in the Student Center began re-opening in September 2023, and the building achieved a Fitwel 1 Star Rating in the fall of 2024. 

Image credits

Gensler

Details

Address

84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

School or Unit

Division of Student Life

Use

Mixed Administrative / Retail / Student Life

Project Team

Architect: Gensler, Boston, MA
Construction manager: Elaine Construction Company, Newton, MA
MIT Team: Thayer Donham, Amy Kaiser, Alan Molin

Scope

47,000 gsf

Map

42.3591000000
-71.0948000000
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