Quincy, MA – Lee Kennedy Co., Inc. recently completed the new
$33 million Weld Hill Research & Administration Building for the Arnold Arboretum
of Harvard University. Lee Kennedy Co. provided extensive preconstruction and
construction services for the 42,000 square-foot building, located on 14 acres adjacent to
the arboretum.
The facility, currently under consideration for LEED Gold certification, features state-
of-the-art botanical science research laboratories and offices for researchers and staff.
The complex houses a cold room; growth chambers; dark rooms; transgenic rooms with
double air lock doors; lab skylights to enhance natural light and 12 greenhouses. The
entire facility is heated and cooled by a geothermal system, for which Lee Kennedy Co.
installed 88 geothermal wells on site.
Located in a dense, underdeveloped wooded area, Lee Kennedy Co.’s team took great
care to disturb only the land that needed to be cleared for construction and implemented
tree protection, on-site soil management and erosion control techniques to maintain the
site.
“Our team has constructed a world-class research facility that not only provides the
highest quality lab and research capabilities, but is also respectful of the environment and
the surrounding neighborhood,” said Lee Kennedy Co. CEO Lee Michael Kennedy. “We
are proud to have been part of such a socially responsible project.”