8 Story Street
Address4-12, Story Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Alternate Address46, Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number219
Alternate Names
4-12 Story Street,
The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) Building
Building Root Number
06033
Architect (Original)
The Architects Collaborative, Inc.
Dedicated
1966
Constructed 1967
Building Acquired 1986
Land Acquired 1986
Constructed 1967
Building Acquired 1986
Land Acquired 1986
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after its address.Historical Notes8 Story Street sits at the perimeter of the commercial and retail area of Harvard Square, part of a large block of buildings bounded by Brattle, Eliot, Mount Auburn and Story streets. The building was designed by The Architects Collaborative (TAC). The first phase of the building was completed in 1966, followed by the second phase in 1969, which expanded to the west by four window bays. Other architects erected buildings that eventually created a complex: Benjamin Thompson next door to TAC offices on Brattle Street in 1969; Josep Lluis Sert at 44 Brattle Street in 1970; and Earl Flansburgh at 14 Story Street in 1970. The buildings together form a brick-paved courtyard and pedestrian arcade interior to the block, which was extended to Mount Auburn Street in 1988.
4 - 12 Story Street was designed to be an inexpensive office building.
Harvard acquired the TAC building in 1986. TAC terminated operations in 1995, and since then Harvard offices and commercial tenants have occupied the building.
There was a major interior renovation and an entrance canopy added in 1998, designed by the architecture firm Chan Krieger.
Additional Information
Kay, Jane."Architecture: The Shape of Things: A Block on Brattle Street- Part 2." Boston Globe (1960-1989), May 07, 1972, pp. 1.
Kay, Jane. "Architecture: The Shape of Things: A Block on Brattle Street- Part 1." Boston Globe (1960-1989), Apr 30, 1972, pp. 1.
Eldridge, Joseph. "Design for Designers." Boston Globe (1960-1989), Dec 11, 1966, pp. 1.
McKee, Bradford. "TAC's Demise." Architecture. Washington, D.C., Vol. 84 Issue 12, 1995, p. 117.
“Challenging Collaboration for TAC.” Architectural Record, vol. 142, no. 3, 1967, pp. 159–64, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1967-09.pdf.
Winslow, Thomas J. “Harvard Purchased Land Valued at $24.7 Million.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 June 1987, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1987/6/9/harvard-purchased-land-valued-at-247/.