Diller Scofidio + Renfro has completed the renovation of a 195,000-square-foot former storage facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, turning the historic building into a new home for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Planning.
The project brings together classrooms, studios, offices and shared spaces within the Metropolitan Warehouse, a red-brick complex that had remained largely unused for decades. The renovation aims to preserve the building’s industrial character while creating a brighter, more open environment for students and faculty.
Originally designed by architect Frederic Pope and completed in 1894, the warehouse was expanded several times by Peabody and Stearns, with the final addition dating to 1923. Its thick brick walls, narrow windows, closely spaced columns and numerous storage compartments presented significant challenges for its conversion into an educational facility.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), working with associate architect Leers Weinzapfel Associates, was selected for the project in 2018 following an invited competition.
A radical transformation behind historic walls
The architects retained much of the building’s south-facing brick facade, introducing larger windows while preserving the original exterior’s visual rhythm. On the north side, however, the approach was more dramatic: sections of brickwork across four of the five buildings were removed and replaced with five-storey glass curtain walls.
The renovation also involved removing the central sections of the structures to create open, light-filled interiors. Rather than concealing the exposed brick, terracotta and structural elements left behind, DS+R made them part of the architectural design.
Four of the five buildings received new floors and ceilings constructed from concrete-on-steel platforms suspended from the original roof beams. The resulting studios and teaching spaces are designed to offer greater flexibility and natural light.
The project also draws inspiration from American artist and architect Gordon Matta-Clark, known for cutting through existing buildings to reveal their internal structures. Following a similar approach, DS+R used a large cylindrical saw to create circular openings through the warehouse’s thick western brick wall, allowing the installation of precisely fitted round windows.
A building designed to teach architecture
The renovated warehouse is intended to serve not only as an academic facility but also as a practical example of adaptive reuse and architectural innovation.
John Ochsendorf, the school’s associate dean for research, described the transformation as a major achievement, recalling that he had initially considered the building unsuitable for conversion into an open and light-filled educational space.
The project reflects DS+R’s wider approach to working with existing structures, seen in projects such as New York’s High Line and the V&A East Storehouse in London. Rather than hiding the constraints of older buildings, the firm often incorporates their original features into the new design.
MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning marked the completion with an inaugural exhibition, Occupancy, exploring themes including movement, labour, adaptation, sustainability and social relations. The new facility is intended to become a long-term learning environment, with the architecture itself serving as a teaching tool for future generations.
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