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The Boston Society for Architecture has announced the location for its new headquarters and civic venue: ground-floor corner space at 99 Chauncy St. in downtown Boston.
The professional association also announced its choice of local architecture firm NADAAA to design the interiors following a competition.
The BSA plans to close its longtime, 15,000-square-foot ground-floor home in BXP’s Atlantic Wharf development in October of this year, and said it expects to open the new, 2-story space in “early 2027.” Public records show the building is owned by a Doha, Qatar-based investment firm headed by a member of the nation’s royal family, Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani.
The move was prompted by a need to “right-size” the organization’s physical footprint, its announcement said, but the new headquarters will retain both staff offices and a flexible space that can serve as both an exhibition gallery and a venue for lectures, conferences and community events. Executive Director Danyson Tavares told Banker & Tradesman last fall that the association hopes to create “another civic hub” for Boston.
“We’re thrilled to establish the BSA’s new home in a neighborhood that reflects the energy and diversity of Boston,” Tavares said in a statement this week. “Our goal is to create a space that connects designers, nonprofits, and communities from across the city. We’re excited to partner with NADAAA to shape a place that welcomes conversation, collaboration, and new ideas for Boston’s future.”
NADAAA, picked to design the new space, is known for ambitious designs and winning awards for its cultural and institutional projects. Founder Nader Tehrani is also the former dean of Cooper Union’s school of architecture and head of MIT’s architecture department, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Design.
In the Boston area, NADAAA most recently designed the new inbound headhouse and canopy for the MBTA Red Line’s Kendal/MIT station, and is working with Historic New England to draft a plan for the nonprofit’s Otis House museum in Boston. The firm also designed the Boston Public Library’s new Adams Street branch in Dorchester, which opened in 2021.
“We are honored to be selected as design partners for the new BSA space on Chauncy Street. As a voice for the profession, the BSA headquarters effectively serves as an embassy for the discipline: on the one hand communicating what architecture can do for the environments in which it is set, and on the other, how the profession can embody the capacity to listen to a wider audience. The BSA’s public mission is central to our own commitment, and I am very much looking forward to developing ideas that explore the civic potential of the proposed space,” Tehrani said in a statement.
