John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

A New, Critical Research Facility in the Heart of Kendall Square

In a first-of-its-kind Exchange Agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA), a new turn-key research and administrative facility was developed, designed, and constructed for the Department of Transportation. The facility consists of 410,000 sq. ft. spread across 12 floors, with two stories of below-grade structured parking. Notable programs include the nine high-bay human factor labs for plane, train, and bus simulators, as well as vehicle and other specialty labs and a host of support spaces and offices. To support research-related training and conferences, the facility contains a nearly 32,000 sq. ft. conference center consisting of 16 conference, training, and break rooms—five of which can be combined by opening operable partitions to create a single 7,000 sq. ft. room with a capacity of up to 1564 occupants. Accessible to conference attendees on the floor above the conference center is a full-service cafeteria with kitchen, server and access to an outdoor green-roof terrace. The facility contains a Security Command Center for 24/7 operations, as well as SCIF designed to meet ICD/ICS 705 requirements. 

The project also included the redevelopment of a total of 10 acres on the site, including 4 acres dedicated to this facility, and involved significant excavations for the below-grade parking with an engineered permanent earth retention system. Additionally, the project meets LEED Gold certification with utilization of multiple sustainability and resiliency features, including PV panels on the roof level (designed to supply at least 30% of the building's hot water demand), high-efficiency HVAC equipment, and exterior massing and design intended to maximize daylight into the building while utilizing exterior sun shading devices to minimize heating and cooling loads. 

The facility was designed and constructed with flexibility in mind, including the ability to replace communications and information technology services in-line without disruption ot any ongoing activities.