Draper Celebrates 50 Years in Technology Square
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On September 10, 2026, Draper celebrated 50 years as an anchor tenant in Technology Square. It was on this date in 1976 that the company received the keys to its building at 555 Technology Square in Cambridge.
To mark the occasion, Draper produced a commemorative video.
Construction on the 450,000 square foot building began in 1972, following MIT's divestiture of what was then known as the MIT Instrumentation Lab. Work on the building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, was completed in 1976.
The building was renamed the Robert A. Duffy Building in 1992, in recognition of Draper's first president and CEO. Duffy presided over the construction of the building that accommodated Draper staff who had been working in multiple buildings across Cambridge.
In 2017, a 20,000 square foot multistory atrium was added to the structure, replacing an open-air courtyard between the original buildings. In addition to offices and workspaces, the building houses microfabrication and biomedical laboratories, an advanced machine shop, and multiple testing facilities.
Today, more than 2,200 Draper employees work in the 800,000 square feet of space that the company occupies in the Duffy Building and the adjacent Hill Building at One Hampshire Street in Cambridge.
About Draper
Draper is a non-profit research, development, and manufacturing company that solves some of the nation’s most important challenges. With more than 2,800 employees working in collaboration across 12 locations, Draper delivers transformative, mission-driven solutions that successfully meet our customers’ requirements. These efforts focus on four critical mission areas: Strategic Systems, Space Systems, Electronic Systems, and Biotechnology Systems. To extend our legacy into the future, the Draper Scholars program engages with the next generation of innovators while DraperSPARX™ seeks to partner with startups and small businesses that can further our mission. To learn more about Draper, visit www.draper.com. Follow Draper on Linked In and Instagram.
Released September 14, 2026
