Situating Massachusetts General Hospital on a new raised ground plane that links it to the Charles River and Boston’s larger public realm, the new masterplan elevates the hospital’s position in the urban landscape. This new topography occupies the same level as the city’s existing MBTA platforms, thus creating a monumental and generous connection between mass transit and the Charles River embankment.

In addition to creating important new urban connections, the masterplan improves the quality of the enclosed, concourse-level connections that link new buildings. A terraced park meets this internal upper-level circulation, allowing patients and visitors to directly access the exterior public space on the west side of the ambulatory care facilities.

Inside, an atrium serves as an intermediate public space, both a shared amenity and a buffer between the activities on the concourse level of the hospital and the greater public realm. Large floor plates on the first, second, and third floors subdivide into three separate towers at the higher levels, maximizing the amount of natural light and making for elegant additions to the Boston skyline.