40 Thorndike
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Elkus Manfredi Architects
2026 Professional Honor Award
Photography: Robert Benson
About the project
40 Thorndike transforms a former courthouse and jail through strategic subtraction and envelope reinvention, recalibrating the building’s proportions, introducing permeability, and replacing the opaque façade with a glass curtain wall articulated with terra cotta. The reprogrammed structure integrates Class A office space, 48 affordable housing units, and active ground-floor uses.