HQ + SPARC, Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Devens, Massachusetts, 2023

I feel honored to have been included in the project team audaciously attempting to solve, through Nuclear Fusion, the linked challenges of Sustainable, Affordable Energy Production and Climate Change. I wake each day with a profound sense of duty and good fortune to potentially change the trajectory of humanity’s future.

The team began at MIT’s Plasma Science & Fusion Center, where I was allowed to conceptualize new reactor designs and their facilities; and helped them spin off to commercialize fusion energy at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). I helped CFS identify their facility needs, select a contractor, select and master plan a site, create the initial concept for their corporate headquarters, and lead the design of the SPARC facility, including the conceptual arrangement of the equipment. I’ve been fortunate to have a great team: Thornton Tomasetti (structural), VHB (civil), Vibrasure (acoustics), and a large team at HDR executing the balance of the architecture and engineering.

A collection of videos from Commonwealth Fusion Systems and the PSFC

Iberian International Nanotechnology Laboratory

Braga, Portugal, 2007

Again, I feel honored to have been allowed to lead the site master planning and conceptual design for one of the largest (300,000 GSF) nanotechnology facilities in the world.  Located in Braga, Portugal, but upon European Union land, the facility includes: over 11,000 NSF of ISO 5 (Cl 100) and ISO 6 (Cl 1,000) nanomanufacturing space; characterization and general laboratories; offices; a library; a 270-person auditorium; a cafeteria; a 45-room hotel for visitors, researchers and their families; a 20,000 GSF business Incubator; and a future Nanoscience Museum Building. The exterior design was refined, with a somewhat different vision, by a local team.

Paulo de Freitas describes the INL’s conception; and Ken Filar describes the initial, in-situ, conceptual design process and how Paulo’s design goal was translated into form.