“We could see in the bones of the building that it would work,” said Simpson. “And we knew what kind of life we could bring to it.”

First, they cut a hole in the middle.

The atrium, the exposed area in the center, will form what Simpson calls “the glue that holds the whole thing together.”

Light will pour in through a glass ceiling, and six stories of thick, concrete columns will be exposed, with offices along the inside divided only by glass from the center—the architects intentionally used glass so that everyone would be able to see everyone else.

An abstract pattern resembling strands of DNA, will be woven into the floor.

“We want this to be the symbol of total modernity,” Simpson says. “We want it to be totally new.”

An Eye to the Past

Despite their emphasis on innovation, architects of the Necco factory’s renovation have a great deal of history to take into account.

In order to receive a tax credit as one of Cambridge’s historical places, construction must meet stringent requirements.

The building’s external color, molding, and roofscape must be preserved.

And inside, the wood paneling of the old offices on will be preserved.

Many of the old features of the site will be transformed for their second life.

The power plant, a separate structure outside of the factory, will be turned into a cafeteria and welcoming facility.

And from the old loading dock, where shipments of sugar were once brought into the factory by a rail link, Stubbins plans to build a “winter garden” surrounded in glass, that will fuse the building’s traditional brick outline with the aesthetic of its new function.

The building’s signature candy-striped water tower, painted to resemble a Necco wafer, will stay put.