BU Today: Smithsonian Channel to Air Segment on BU’s Center for Computing & Data Sciences
Excerpt from BU Today | By: Amy Laskowski | October 16, 2024 | Photo: Julian Massari (ENG'26)
Have you ever looked at BU’s Center for Computing & Data Sciences and wondered why it doesn’t tip over? Or why it’s described as fossil fuel–free? Then you’ll want to tune into the Smithsonian Channel on Sunday at 9 pm for a quick explainer.
CDS stars in the newest episode of How Did They Build That? a show that explores the most architecturally complicated buildings around the world and the features that make them so. Hosted by actor Jay Ellis (Top Gun), the show covers a range of topics, including towers, cantilevers, roofs, arches, biomes, hotels, opera houses, and seismic stations.
Sunday’s segment includes interviews with the architects, engineers, and BU staff who collaborated to make the 19-story, 345,000-square-foot CDS building one of the most eye-catching and sustainable in New England when it opened in January 2023. Designed by Toronto-based KPMB Architects and built by Boston-based Suffolk Construction, the CDS tower gets its striking profile from its massive cantilevered sections, often described as resembling a stack of books or a game of Jenga. As the city’s largest fossil fuel-free and carbon-free building, it’s one of the biggest components of BU’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce the University’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2040.