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.

40 Thorndike — publication image
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