WGBH Public Broadcasting Station Headquarters

Brighton, MA, USA

Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Drawing © Ennead Architects

Photo © Alex MacLean/Landslides Aerial Photography

Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Architects: ennead architects

Year: 2007

The site for new headquarters for the nation’s preeminent creator of public broadcast content is adjacent to the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Turnpike and is bisected by a public street. The design responds to these site conditions and unifies the non-profit corporation in a dynamic composition of three formal elements. An existing seven-story office building contains all the support office spaces. A new two-story technical operations center, clad in flat and corrugated steel panels, houses TV production studios, radio stations, and screening rooms, across the street. Lastly, a new two-story crystalline “beam,” containing content production office areas, is a horizontal form that floats above the technical operations center, spans the street, intersecting the office building, and linking the north and south sites. This is the heart of the institution, placing the creative content providers at the center, bridging between technical production areas and office support spaces.