GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Cummings Center, Beverly, MA
Now called Cummings Center, the former headquarters of United Shoe Machinery Corporation is one of the largest conversions from factory to modern office and research space, anywhere. More than 2 million square feet of modern office and laboratory space is now a beehive of activity overlooking the beautiful on-campus lakes.Industrial RevolutionsBy Regina Raiford Just a little bit of history repeating …” The stirring refrain from Propellerheads/Shirley Bassey’s song, “History Repeating,” is fitting to the monumental modernization of the United Shoe Machinery Corp. (USM) headquarters into the Cummings Center.Construction of the Beverly, MA headquarters began in 1902, and the massive complex, housing a business that created shoe manufacturing equipment, was then considered a state-of-the-art facility. Heralded in its day for its elegant lines and employee-friendly design, this bulwark of the local economy…