Members of the Dicerna team participate in the breakthrough event: (l-r) Doug Fambrough, CEO; Jim Weissman, CBO; Bob Brown, CSO; Regina Paglia, SVP of human resources; Jack Green, CFO; Bruce Leicher, interim GC, chief compliance officer; Jayne Donnelly, head of executive operations/administration; David Miller, SVP, Alliance Management/operations
Lexington, MA – Calnan & Associates, Inc. (JC&A), a construction management firm, recently held a “breakthrough” event signifying the start of construction for biopharmaceutical company Dicerna™ Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dicerna, a developer of investigational ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapeutics, is relocating its corporate headquarters and laboratories from Cambridge to 33 Hayden Avenue in Lexington, a building owned by Boston Properties.
The project team includes the owner’s project manager, Anyi Strang of LJB Lab Planners; R.E. Dinneen Architects & Planners (REDAP) for tenant fit-out; AHA, project engineers; VHB for civil and landscape; Goldstein-Milano for structural; and Perkins & Will for base building architectural upgrades.
The 80,000sf facility, which is scheduled to open in fall 2019, comprises two floors of office space and one floor designated for laboratory usage.
The new Dicerna biology/chemistry labs, consisting of 25,000sf on the first floor, occupy a previous tenant’s scientific facilities that are being transformed and upgraded to meet Dicerna’s state-of-the-art research and development facility requirements. Dicerna will use an existing three-story atrium, being renovated by base building architects Perkins + Will, as a company ”Town Hall” gathering space for a variety of activities.
The tenant fit-out, designed by REDAP, consists of 55,000sf on the second and third floors. The design maximizes the use of natural light and views with a completely open floor plan, intended to promote collaboration and camaraderie. Staying true to Dicerna’s values of openness and equality, there are no private offices in the space, and all workstations are equal in size.
A variety of conference, meeting spaces, and break-out areas provide ample opportunities for employees to choose alternative work areas. In keeping with the company’s emphasis on employee well-being, a new state-of-the-art fitness center and yoga studio, as well as large patios for outside activities, will complete the transformation of the new facility.
