AECOM Tishman served as CM for New England Conservatory’s 140,000 SF, 11-story Student Life & Performance Center.
After previously completing exterior renovations of NEC’s four buildings, projects that won numerous awards for historic preservation and green initiatives, AECOM Tishman won the bid to continue our partnership with NEC, leading to this project, NEC’s first ground-up building since 1959. Designed by a partnership of Ann Beha Architects and Gensler, the LEED Gold center houses a student residence atop a new student life complex.
The podium contains multiple performance spaces, including a signature black-box theater for the opera department, an orchestra practice hall, a large group ensemble practice hall and a new state-of-the-art, two-level library that houses the school’s collections and provides access through interactive technology. The building’s program called for acoustic excellence, with sustainability and construction quality being equally key; sound isolation between performances spaces was a high priority, as was the sourcing of regional materials. Located above the podium, the student residence tower contains 145 rooms with 252 beds, a dining hall and a common area with views of Boston, while the center as a whole introduces a new streetscape to the area. The SLPC’s ribbon cutting coincided with NEC’s 150th anniversary.