The Longwood Medical and Academic Area

Weaving through the district, nine public spaces are now the new scene for the district’s patients, researchers, visitors, medical staff, and students to relax and enjoy. These inviting hubs of intellectual and recreational activates are filled with over three dozen daily programs and amenities - from outdoor dining to music to speaker’s series to lawn and board games to reading rooms.

The Project:

The Longwood Medical and Academic Area (The LMA) is an urban district of Boston comprised of large medical buildings and traditional higher educational campuses.

At the start of the project, The LMA was an endless sprawl of streets, dullstreet edges, and pedestrian corridors connecting to over 40 distinct and not well used public spaces. A detailed research and planning process revealed the most prominent spaces that were prioritized and became the initial set of newly activated community spaces. A robust management plan was established that combined on-site staffing, sanitation crews, and maintenance protocols to deliver a smooth-running operation.