Moderna Moves Cambridge Employees Into New Headquarters
04 Apr 2024
Vaccine
Pictured: The new Moderna headquarters features an atrium that reaches the full height of the six-floor building/Bearwalk Cinema
To drive productivity, collaboration and innovation, Moderna is moving its Cambridge, Mass., employees into a new headquarters where everyone can be in the same place—a roughly 460,000-square-foot building with significant lab space.
The move to 325 Binney Street is 90% complete, with the remaining employees heading over later this year, according to Jamie Kinch, head of corporate real estate at Moderna. Previously, the company was headquartered at 200 Technology Square. It also occupied a few neighboring buildings as it grew.
Moderna has a significant employee presence in Massachusetts, home to the bulk of its overall workforce. At the end of 2023, the company had more than 4,400 employees in the state and a total of 5,600 globally.
Designing the New Headquarters
Kinch told BioSpace that creating an environment conducive to how Moderna leads with science was the primary consideration in creating the new headquarters, where lab space occupies nearly 50% of the square footage. The labs are critical given the company’s mRNA work. Recent milestones include advancing multiple vaccine programs to late-stage clinical trials. Moderna also recently secured up to $750 million in funding from asset management firm Blackstone Life Sciences to advance its mRNA-based flu program.
Collaboration was another key consideration. Kinch noted that bringing people together in one space removes some of the barriers to solving complex problems, a big part of Moderna’s focus.
“It’s a great way for people in our business to build connection with one another,” he said.
Theo Rowley, director of talent acquisition at Moderna, agreed, telling BioSpace that in-person collaboration is helpful when you’re moving quickly and working to innovate. For example, he explained, you don’t have to lose time waiting for people to reply virtually. You can have micro conversations in the hallway over coffee or get up and ask someone what their thoughts are instead of piling on emails or Teams pings.
Pictured: Entrance of the new Moderna headquarters at 325 Binney Street in Cambridge/Bearwalk Cinema
Inside 325 Binney Street
According to Kinch, the six-floor Moderna headquarters has multiple features geared toward productivity, collaboration and innovation. These include:
Multiple research labs with cutting-edge design. Kinch described them as purpose-built for the teams that innovate in them.
Digital-first technology, featuring real-time usage data as well as wayfinding that makes navigating the office easy.
Spaces that support employee well-being, such as lactation rooms and wellness rooms where employees can pray or meditate.
An atrium that disperses light into the building and features a communal staircase and a breakout area where employees can collaborate or work on their own.
Diverse other collaboration spaces where people from across the business can gather together.
Kinch said the atrium is one of his favorite building features, describing it as an impressive architectural design and noting that not many places in Boston or Cambridge have that kind of space.
His other favorite feature is the barista bar. The bar will be part of a large community space on the first floor that will also include a town hall area and a marketplace where employees can get grab-and-go items. Kinch expects the space to debut in about two months.
“This will be a destination in the building for our employees to go away from the traditional work area and work more in a cafe environment that you might do when you’re spending a day away from the office,” he said.
Pictured: Exterior view of Moderna’s new headquarters/Bearwalk Cinema
Sustainability at the New Building
Kinch said he is also excited about the building’s sustainability features. He noted the company’s desire for the headquarters to be one of the most sustainable buildings in Cambridge. Designed for exceptional energy efficiency, the building features:
A high-performance exterior with triple-glazed windows that reduce the demand for typical heating and cooling needs.
A blue roof that collects rainwater for use in the cooling system and irrigation.
Solar panels on the roof that supply electricity to the building. Moderna purchases additional electricity, when needed, from a solar farm in New England.
Greenery around the building to reduce the heat island effect.
Geothermal wells that pull heat out of the ground in the winter to heat the building and eject heat back into the ground in the summer to help cool the building.
Pictured: Two employees sitting down chat inside the new Moderna headquarters/Bearwalk Cinema
The New Headquarters’ Role in Attracting Talent
The new headquarters’ features and sustainability focus stand to resonate not only with current Moderna employees but future ones as well. Moderna has well over 100 open positions in Cambridge, and Rowley said job candidates have been curious about the building, asking what it’s like. He tells them it’s a great space and a motivational place to work.
Rowley said the new headquarters shows that the company is serious about growth.
“We’re here in Cambridge, we’re here to stay,” he said. “This is where we want to be. This is where we know the best talent is.”
Kinch agreed, even while acknowledging Cambridge is an expensive place to live. The city’s cost of living is well over the national average, according to Payscale and Salary.com. Payscale puts it at 73% higher and Salary.com at 53% higher.
“Cambridge is not the cheapest place,” Kinch said, “but I think it’s well recognized that this is a hub for the kind of talent that we want to attract and retain.”
Cambridge is part of the Genetown hotbed, a region known for research hubs including Harvard University, MIT, Boston University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Angela Gabriel is content manager, life sciences careers, at BioSpace. You can reach her at angela.gabriel@biospace.com and follow her on LinkedIn.
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