10 World Trade is sited at a unique location in the Seaport. It sits at multiple crossroads: the multi-story intersection of Congress Street and World Trade Center Avenue; the gap between the lower Seaport and the Summer Street corridor; the crossing of pedestrians and interstate traffic; the coming together of multiple modes of transportation; the juncture of public realm and the commercial world. 

The building delivers over 200,000 square feet of new lab space, over 255,000 square feet of office space, 8,000 square feet for cultural uses, 6,500 square feet dedicated to retail, and 40,000 square feet of outdoor public realm and surface improvements along World Trade Center Avenue. 

Prioritizing Public Realm

The project rethinks the urban mixed-use program and fully capitalizes on the site’s potential, delivering over two acres of public space woven through and around the building. Arches offer the solution to complicated structural site constraints, lifting the building off the ground to create a completely public and porous ground floor that acts as a portal between adjacent site levels. This also further connects the district through a new pedestrian bridge to a public outdoor space. All four sides are front doors, blurring the lines between public and private space. 

Once a fragmented pedestrian condition at the convergence of vehicular infrastructure, 10 World Trade transformed the site into a continuous urban promenade that reconnects overlapping layers of the city and establishes a public realm that is active and energized twelve months a year. During the best days of summer it is open and airy, and during the worst days of winter it glows with greenery and warmth from within. It’s a design that delivers an office product offering a truly different and captivating tenant experience.

Reshaping the Office Tower

From a massing perspective, the design is a departure from the traditional multi-story podium built to the property lines with a tower set back above it. By pushing the main facades in at the center, the design gives space back to the city at the ground level, and tapers outwards as the building ascends to capture more leasable floor area. 

The architecture is defined by the sweeping structural arches and a column-free central volume that dissolves the boundary between inside and outside. Conceived as “a door for the city,” the building establishes a strong visual identity from every vantage point while enhancing the pedestrian experience at street level. Above, expanding floor plates accommodate over 450,000 square feet of flexible lab and office space alongside cultural programming, culminating in a panoramic indoor running track overlooking Boston Harbor and the skyline beyond.

Designing for Sustainability

The first project in Boston to receive SITES pre-certification, 10 World Trade has achieved Gold certification for SITES, LEED, and WELL, and Platinum certifications for WiredScore and SmartScore. Also a first in the city for commercial work, the building facades utilize ViewGlass, electrochromic glazing that adjusts to sunlight, solar gain, and glare in real time, reducing energy usage across building systems. The triple glazed curtain wall further improves building performance, reducing the energy usage by keeping heat out in the summer, and in during the winter. Densely vegetated landscapes and native species store rainwater in heavy rain events without requiring additional irrigation systems, removing the use of potable water and eliminating polluted stormwater runoff to the ocean.

10 World Trade sets a new precedent for the Seaport: a commercially ambitious building that simultaneously acts as public infrastructure, civic space, and urban connector.