The Massachusetts General Hospital Phillip and Susan Ragon Building

Project highlights: The Massachusetts General Hospital Phillip and Susan Ragon Building

• Architecture firm:  NBBJ
• Owner:  Massachusetts General Hospital
• Location: Boston
• Category: D
• Project Site:  Previously developed
• Building program type(s):  Healthcare - hospital inpatient

• Medicine continues its rapid evolution as synergies in technology and scientific data reveal new possibilities for care. The Massachusetts General Hospital, the third-oldest general hospital in the nation and a leading academic medical center, meets this critical moment with a transformative new building to accommodate the increasing demand for innovative services. This new building also features sustainable strategies that will reduce emissions by nearly 90%, a rare feat for a large, complex facility.

  Envisioned as an “environment that hosts life,” the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building is a 482-bed project adjacent to Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Post-development, the site, once an urban brownfield, will be the most advanced medical support system for complex care in the region and a vital teaching and research platform for Harvard Medical School. It will accommodate up to 30,000 people daily and include two Mass General Centers of Excellence, where multidisciplinary teams will provide care for patients with the most complex needs. Construction is currently underway with an anticipated two-phase opening in 2027 and 2030.

  As the hospital's largest and most visible building, this project expresses the system’s highest aspirations, with surgical and interventional space, inpatient beds, and outpatient treatment focused largely on cancer and cardiac care spread across its 12 levels. In addition, the building includes imaging, a full pharmacy, a clinical lab, and sterile processing all powered by renewable energy.

Given its position across the street from Beacon Hill, the building’s design forms strong yet respectful connections with the neighborhood’s historic fabric. Its base is designed with a scale and material approach characteristic of the surrounding buildings, while the vertical articulation of the two patient towers plays with light and shadow to reduce the scale of reading in the city. Inside, the project includes daylit patient rooms and staff areas that promote wellness, nontoxic materials, and circadian lighting in its 24-hour staff spaces. Two 7,500-square-foot rooftop healing gardens crown the building and add more than 100 trees to the neighborhood.

As the result of a robust community engagement process that included more than 80 meetings over two years, the project will also add a new subway station, underground parking, a park, retail space, and a welcome arcade to the neighborhood. Beyond providing cutting-edge medical care, the resilient building anticipates rising summer temperatures, storm surges, and flooding and is designed to operate as a self-sufficient refuge for the community for up to 96 hours.