Massachusetts General Hospital Susan and Philip Ragon Building

Reed Hilderbrand is responsible for the complex series of landscapes that incorporate this two-million square-feet, 482-bed hospital tower on bust Cambridge Street between Beacon Hill and the MGH campus. Work includes new streetscapes, the renewal of Bulfinch Lawn, and the creation of two rooftop healing gardens, one of which serves patients at the Mass General Cancer Center.

Collaborating with NBBJ and Massachusetts General Hospital to design, permit, and now move into construction of the largest new hospital construction projects in North America. Valued at $2 billion, the pair of connected 12- and 13-story towers along Cambridge Street will be home to the Mass General Cancer Center and the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center. The site incorporates a six-level underground parking deck and creates 46,000 square feet of public space on structure. The new MGH Philip and Susan Ragon Building provides an incredible opportunity to re-envision the most prominent edge of the MGH campus and its interface with the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood.

The public realm design focused on the creation of generous and
comfortable pedestrian spaces, a shaded public plaza that serves
as a new gateway into the campus, and accommodations for multi-
modal transportation. Two new roof terraces at the pedestal level
of the building are designed to provide health and wellness focused
amenities for patients and staff including a therapeutic garden, a flexible meeting and gathering terrace, and informal restorative spaces.

Civic Character 

Cambridge, North Grove, Parkman and Blossom Streets frame the new Ragon Building. Canopy trees and undertstory planters frame create shade and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks that invite gathering and serendipitous meetings. The landscape promotes the dignity of patients, families, and healthcare workers alike by defining this safe and inviting civic character expressive of MGH’s values and role in Boston.

Benefits to the West End

Creation of the Ragon Building allowed us to rethink arrival to the MGH campus and thus to renew the generous park space called Bulfinch Lawn. With patient arrivals at the Ragon and Bulfinch buildings now along a looped drive, the Lawn is reconceived as a series of garden rooms meandering alongside major pedestrian paths. These immersive offer quiet refuge for families and healthcare workers. Open turf welcomes the West End community and supports retail – restaurant tenants located on the ground floor of the Ragon. A glass pavilion — the North Anderson Street arcade — will create an open feel from Cambridge Street back toward the Bulfinch Lawn.