Keller provides deep foundations and excavation support for the first air rights development project over the Massachusetts Turnpike since the 1980s. The project, Parcel 12, earned the 2025 DFI Outstanding Project Award.
The project
Boston’s Parcel 12 (also known as Lyrik) is a 19-story superstructure office building with two levels of below-grade parking and an 11-story hotel, spanning six lanes of the Massachusetts Turnpike and two commuter rail lines.
The site was bound by existing structures and highway lanes, with site access and deliveries limited to lane closures. Working near the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, it was not uncommon to quickly adjust the schedule due to extra innings for a Red Sox game.
Construction was divided among three subsites: a hotel, a commercial/office building, and a tower crane.
At the proposed location of the 11-story hotel, Keller installed 158 micropiles to support the structure. An additional 90 micropiles were installed to provide earth support, facilitating excavations of 5 to 12 feet.
At the 19-story office/commercial building, a diaphragm wall was installed by others to provide deep foundations and earth retention. Supported by internal bracing and tie-back anchors, the retaining walls enabled the construction of the 25-ft below-grade parking levels. Keller installed 24 micropiles to support part of the core mat as well as 19 tiebacks through the slurry wall.
Finally, Keller installed 316 micropiles between the eastbound and commuter rail lines to provide deep foundations and excavation support, creating a podium to support the building that spans the highway.
