Massachusetts Institute of Technology Albany Street Cogeneration Plant

The Cogeneration Facility is part of a major utilities infrastructure modernization initiative underway at MIT. Ellenzweig provided architectural planning and design services for the initiative and the new Cogeneration Facility, which replaces the existing Cogeneration Facility also designed by Ellenzweig and completed in 1995. The new facility is a 40-MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant that will meet MIT’s greenhouse gas emission targets, enable campus implementation of even more efficient energy technologies, and allow the campus to operate in the event of a regional utility outage, storm surge, or major natural disaster. Resiliency and sustainability are central to the project design approach, including the elevation of all critical utility systems above the 500-year flood plain level.

Located in the densely populated, highly active urban environment of the MIT campus in the City of Cambridge, the Cogeneration Facility has a significant presence along Albany Street. The architectural expression is inspired by the industrial scale of the machinery and systems housed within, as well as their significant need for ventilation or “breathing” through the exterior envelope. The façade’s sculptural metal panel forms, or “cowls,” are specifically engineered to permit air transfer on all sides, similar in concept to the gills of a fish. A bold red accent color animates these cowls, dramatically highlighting the areas where fresh air enters and leaves the facility. Rendered in folded metal panels, the building’s tall exhaust stack is made to feel as an integral part of the sculptural composition. Large windows along the street and the metal panels above provide visual relief to the necessary substantial structure. The window openings frame specific views of the inner workings of the building and impart a more pedestrian feeling to the Cogeneration Facility, allowing for a composition well-suited to its use and highly appropriate for its place in the City and on the MIT campus.