On July 17, the Cambridge Planning Board reviewed Novartis’ plans for fencing its public access courtyard at the new Novartis campus. The board rejected the plans due to concerns over the courtyard security, requiring Novartis to come back with a new proposal. The new Novartis campus on the east side of Massachusetts Avenue will be 50 percent devoted to a public green courtyard, as a condition of the zoning petition that allows some parts of the new campus to reach 125 feet in height, as well as other miscellaneous zoning relief. The courtyard is designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a landscape architecture firm.
