Boston University - Pardee School of Global studies | 250 Bay State Road | Fenway

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After Five Years of Planning, Pardee’s New Home Will Unite Global Studies School

The 12-story building on Bay State Road will be the largest mass timber tower on the east coast and will include more green space near BU Beach
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Plans have "gone public" with an article in BU Today.

Preliminary site work to begin in March, 2026 and construction will start a couple months layer with a two-year completion date.
 
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Is BU determined to ruin Charles campus skyline with the horrendous Jenga building and now this, thing? They need to be told no! Go back to your room and come back when you have something normal please...
 
JS38 said:
Is BU determined to ruin Charles campus skyline with the horrendous Jenga building and now this, thing? They need to be told no! Go back to your room and come back when you have something normal please...
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While I don't 100% disagree, I will add that it's refreshing--dare I say exciting--to see a timber-frame high rise on the horizon. That and the conversion of another surface parking lot into an activated public realm improvement is promising to see.
 
I showed this to my young alumni friends and they don't like it. I think personally this is a great project just because it gets rid of that horrible lot and adds more space for students, which is huge.

At some point, it is worth asking why these institutions which have few financial constraints don't simply choose to build beautiful buildings. Because the average person knows what a beautiful building looks like when they see it. But architects and developers do not know. There's some kind of disconnect going on.

When I told my friend that the building was going to be for global studies, she said "I'd still rather work in this building" and sent me a photo of -- the current school of global studies building. Which is inexplicably more attractive than this thing!

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Longfellow said:
I showed this to my young alumni friends and they don't like it. I think personally this is a great project just because it gets rid of that horrible lot and adds more space for students, which is huge.

At some point, it is worth asking why these institutions which have few financial constraints don't simply choose to build beautiful buildings. Because the average person knows what a beautiful building looks like when they see it. But architects and developers do not know. There's some kind of disconnect going on.

When I told my friend that the building was going to be for global studies, she said "I'd still rather work in this building" and sent me a photo of -- the current school of global studies building. Which is inexplicably more attractive than this thing!

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The campus will benefit by having both buildings.
 
Longfellow said:
I showed this to my young alumni friends and they don't like it. I think personally this is a great project just because it gets rid of that horrible lot and adds more space for students, which is huge.

At some point, it is worth asking why these institutions which have few financial constraints don't simply choose to build beautiful buildings. Because the average person knows what a beautiful building looks like when they see it. But architects and developers do not know. There's some kind of disconnect going on.

When I told my friend that the building was going to be for global studies, she said "I'd still rather work in this building" and sent me a photo of -- the current school of global studies building. Which is inexplicably more attractive than this thing!

View attachment 63573
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This was previously the admissions reception center. Hopefully when Pardee vacates it BU will backfill it with other departments instead of converting it to student housing.
 
#bancars said:
The rendering of the Charles really bugs me here. It looks far too narrow for where the perspective is taken from, and the Cambridge side of the river bank doesn't have grassy seating areas like that.
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I mean, this is a narrower segment of the Charles to begin with, and it doesn't look too dissimilar from this street view? Its certainly idealistic, but I can see that pavilion being close enough for their purposes.
 
Stlin said:
I mean, this is a narrower segment of the Charles to begin with, and it doesn't look too dissimilar from this street view? Its certainly idealistic, but I can see that pavilion being close enough for their purposes.
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Funny enough I actually went running along the stretch the next morning and the river definitely is more narrow there than I thought. The shoreline definitely doesn't look like that though!
 
From the new IMP. This one is cancelled.

bpda.app.box.com

2026-07-21_Institutional Master Plan Notification Form (IMPNF)_Boston University Charles River Campus 2024-2026.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com bpda.app.box.com

The University filed a Project Notification Form (“PNF”) with the City of Boston’s
Planning Department in February 2024 and received the Boston Redevelopment
Authority d/b/a BPDA Board Approval on June 12, 2025. In 2026, the University
completed a review of its major capital projects to ensure alignment with long-term
academic priorities, financial sustainability, and responsible stewardship of
institutional resources. Following the review, BU determined it will not proceed with
the proposed Pardee School of Global Studies project. The review considered both
financial factors and broader strategic priorities, including how major facility
investments best support shared academic needs across the University.
The University will continue to maintain this site as a PIP for future academic use.
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The whole mass timber experiment appears to have mostly failed. Both large projects in Milwaukee fell through. Personally, I don't see the draw at all. I'd rather (A) save the trees and (B) actually feel safer by being in a steel/concrete highrise vs wood.
 
DZH22 said:
The whole mass timber experiment appears to have mostly failed. Both large projects in Milwaukee fell through. Personally, I don't see the draw at all. I'd rather (A) save the trees and (B) actually feel safer by being in a steel/concrete highrise vs wood.
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These buildings were not cancelled because of the material of their structure. They fell through for surrounding economic and institutional changes. Mass timber use is still expanding rapidly.
(A) - the trees are harvested from fast-growth species in sustainably managed forests or plantations. They replant the trees they harvest with many states having strict reforestation laws.
(B) - this has long been debunked. The wood chars on the outside and creates a protective barrier which slows burning (like fire resistant spray on steel beams). They are no less safe than steel/concrete buildings when engineered correctly.
 
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