2025 East Best Projects
Award of Merit, Excellence in Safety: MIT Music Building
MIT Music Building
Cambridge, Mass.
Award of Merit
Submitted by Component Assembly Systems
Owner: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lead Design Firm: Perry Dean Rogers Partners Architect
General Contractor: Lee Kennedy Co.
Structural Engineers: Lochsa Engineering
Wall and Ceiling Subcontractor: Component Assembly Systems
The three-building complex includes a music technology suite, recording studios, rehearsal spaces, faculty offices, classrooms and the lobby. Acoustical clouds located 60 ft above the floor in the performance lab could not be constructed as designed.
As a result, the team choreographed its own strategy to redesign and safely install more than 3,800 sq ft of acoustical panels while also meeting the demanding sound density requirements—all without interfering with other construction activities.
With the help and coordination of all trade partners in an effort that required access to the underside of the roof deck/ceiling area, a 50-ft-high staggered platform was constructed approximately 22-in. from the perimeter walls.
Materials were craned to a scuttle hole through the roof. As ironworkers installed downward posts from the underside of the roof deck, ceiling specialists framed, installed and plastered the acoustical panels.
The synchronized operation was completed safely, contributing to the overall project’s 49,660 injury- and incident-free work hours.
