The Metropolitan Storage Warehouse (Met Warehouse) on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street has long been a familiar presence to the MIT and Cambridge communities. Now, an innovative renovation project is converting this iconic building into a modern hub for interdisciplinary design research and education; a new home for the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, uniting many elements of the school in a single place; and a location for the largest community-wide makerspace on campus, managed by Project Manus.
The adaptive reuse of the Met Warehouse will create 217,000 gross square feet of space for academic, research, gathering, and makerspace purposes, including undergraduate and graduate labs and studios. The Met Warehouse will be the new home for the Department of Architecture, along with research units and studios from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the Center for Real Estate, and the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism.
As our faculty and students demonstrate time and again, design is the bridge between invention and innovation, sparking bold approaches and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to transportation to public health. The renovation will usher in a new era for design, architecture, urban planning, and entrepreneurship at MIT while adapting a remarkable historic structure for contemporary use.
The design approach for the new Met Warehouse augments the existing structure while addressing the distinct challenges of a building constructed for possessions rather than people.
View brochure →
As the Institute’s new design hub, the renovated building will establish a dynamic public face for SA+P, bridging the east and west sides of campus.
read more (pdf) →
Support the Met Warehouse Renovation
Your philanthropic support will help us achieve the promise of this historic renovation project for the MIT community.
Gifts of all levels are deeply appreciated with naming opportunities starting at $100,000. Yet to be raised: $24M.
Give now
To learn more about supporting the Met Warehouse renovation, contact Liz Vena at evena@mit.edu or 617.620.1810.
Learn more about the Met Warehouse
→ The new vibrancy of West Campus
→ Met Warehouse renovation planning takes an exciting next step
→ Design minor and major programs give rise to polymath students with design skills they can apply to any field
Learn more about design at MIT
→ At MIT, a young architect finds the perfect platform for collaborative learning
→ Sarah Williams named director of the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism
→ Athina Papadopoulou SM ’14 creates wearable tech for well-being
→ 3 Questions: Dayna Cunningham on urban planning’s role in racial and social justice
→ How to help urban street commerce thrive
→ Design that makes a difference
→ Transformation by design
→ Health, wealth, and cities
→ Design innovations for improved life in cities
→ Energy-efficient design
