10 World Trade

Scheduled to open 1Q 2025, 10 World Trade will bring lab space, offices, retail, outdoor public space, and a public cultural hub with spaces open to the community 24/7, all year round, to Boston’s Seaport neighborhood. Forward thinking in every detail, the building’s developer, Boston Global Investors, intends to make 10 World Trade one of the most sustainable buildings in Boston, pursuing SITES, LEED, and WELL Gold/Platinum certifications.

Design Challenges Demand Precision and Creativity

In addition to resilience, sustainability, and aesthetic requirements, the 10 World Trade roof also had to fit the building’s oblique, elegantly curved, concave lines. The creative “D” shape of the building means the top floor is bigger than the base. The tapered surface had to accommodate stretched out corners, and — due to the building’s proximity to Logan Airport — adhere to FAA height limitations.

“We had to measure down to fractions of an inch,” said Victor Vizgaitis, Senior Principal Architect & Interior Designer at Sasaki. There was no room for error. “Every trade coordinated with each other to make sure we were compliant with city and federal requirements, return of investment for the development team, and aligned with the design intent.”

GAF’s Tapered Design Group collaborated with Sasaki and Titan Roofing to design the tapered insulation layout for the roof. “The biggest challenge was that the overall roof area was composed of multiple little areas tiled together like a mosaic, at multiple heights to accommodate equipment storage” said Veronika Chwieroth, GAF Regional Tapered Sales Manager.

Tapered Insulation systems utilize pieces of sloped insulation, arranged like a puzzle, to create positive drainage on an otherwise flat roof. “From door thresholds to the overburden supports that were to be on top of the insulation package, we collaborated with Sasaki on reducing heights at the drains and moving them around to optimize drainage,” said Chwieroth. “This reduced material at areas of concern, while still exceeding code minimums and maintaining positive drainage.” She added, “Having an open line of communication between each party was crucial and resulted in an effective tapered design process.”

To help ensure fidelity to the design, GAF Tapered Design Group provided Titan Roofing with a Design Map with piece counts by roof area. To help with staging and organizing, the GAF New Columbia facility also labeled the insulation bundles by roof area prior to shipping.

Putting sustainability first

From the beginning, the building’s developer, Boston Global Investors, intended to make 10 World Trade one of the most sustainable buildings in Boston. Pursuing SITES, LEED, and WELL Gold/Platinum required a holistic approach to building and all trades had to contribute to this goal. As the first SITES building in Boston, 10 World Trade needed a storm water management system and to positively contribute to the surrounding biodiversity to create not just a building, but a beautiful, regenerative landscape.

From the extensive solar array to the insulation, the roof was an integral component in helping the building meet these requirements. The project started as building energy codes in Boston were changing significantly, and the team — across all trades — made continual tweaks throughout and maintained communications to meet sustainability goals and ensure the building remained true to the developers’ inclusive, community-forward vision.

This project was featured in Facility Executive Magazine