Rendering of TRIA ElevateBio Office / TRIA
Boston – DPS Group, a privately-owned, global engineering firm, and TRIA, a partner-led architecture firm, are designing a new cGMP development and manufacturing facility in Waltham for ElevateBio, a Cambridge-based biotech company focused on creating and building a broad range of cell and gene therapy companies.
ElevateBio will occupy 108,000sf of space in POST at 200 Smith Street, a former U.S. post office repositioned into a 430,000sf office and lab building on a 36-acre campus. This facility will house ElevateBio BaseCamp, a single R&D, process development and cGMP manufacturing company, providing these and other services across ElevateBio’s portfolio companies and selected strategic partners.
The project team includes The Richmond Group for construction management, McNamara Salvia for structural engineering services, and EBI Consulting Group for civil engineering services.
DPS and its design affiliate, TRIA, were selected to provide engineering design, architecture, consulting and interior design services for the fit-out of a raw warehouse space into a state-of-the art cGMP development and manufacturing facility for novel therapeutic technologies.
Designed to feel like a “basecamp” – a physical foundation point for the incremental climb in the company’s growth – ElevateBio’s new facility will feature a collaborative open plan office and amenities that promote interaction, and provide flexible production suites for GMP manufacturing, laboratories, and a range of supporting utility and warehouse areas.
TRIA’s design for ElevateBio’s open office and lab space will embrace the enormous ceiling heights, abundant natural light, exposed steel beams, and other original features of the former postal service distribution center.
The base camp concept will blend a comfortable, nature-based color palette with the industrial aesthetic of the existing building, using a light-toned wooden ceiling lattice to highlight the exposed ductwork and help to scale the expansive ceilings of 16 to 24 feet in areas.
Upon entry to reception, space flows from the open office with café and huddle spaces to the glass-walled labs that promote transparency for employees, and finally to the GMP manufacturing area.
DPS and TRIA are collaborating on the design of the lab suite for quality control testing and process development, ensuring a continuity of design and transparency between the office and lab space.
