Boston Harbor at dusk from the Seaport harborwalk, the downtown skyline lit across the water

The Opening by Design Boston

Thursday, March 11, 2027 · Aloft Boston Seaport

A new kind of architectural hardware training

A day built around what architects asked to know.

A class in session, with hands raised for a question from two presenters at the front

Every session on the program began as a question from a design professional. Over the past year, architects, interior designers and specifiers told us where the opening gives them trouble: the closer that has to hold a rated door and still open for everyone, the classroom door that has to secure and release in the same minute, the electrified lock that three trades claim and nobody owns.

The Opening by Design Boston answers those questions in one place, taught to the code and the standard by the specification consultants who write the section. Eighteen accredited courses run in three rooms, six in each, following the buildings you design: schools, multifamily, healthcare, higher education, hospitality and government, with courses for interior designers and a sustainability program alongside. Come for the full day or the half day and earn up to six credits before 5:00. Lunch is provided, and the day ends with closing remarks, a prize drawing and a happy hour at the hotel.

Registration opens December 1, with the schedule for the day and the presenters alongside it.

Visit The Opening by Design

Fort Point Channel in the Seaport District at dusk, with the Seaport towers beyond — Fort Point Channel, a short walk from the hotel.

The program

Eighteen courses, organized by the buildings you design.

Three rooms run side by side, each following one building type through the morning and another through the afternoon. Every course is accredited, sixty minutes, and taught to the code and the standard by an independent specification consultant.

Morning

School security

Three courses on the K-12 opening, where security and egress have to hold at the same time.

Morning

Multifamily

Three courses on the residential-at-scale opening, from the unit entry to the amenity door.

Morning

Healthcare and VA

Three courses on the clinical opening, where patient safety, staff access and accessibility meet at the door.

Afternoon

Higher education

Three courses on the campus opening, from the classroom and the residence hall to the lab.

Afternoon

Hospitality

Three courses on the hotel opening, where the design intent and the code have to arrive together.

Afternoon

Government

Three courses on the public building, where durability, security and open access share one hardware set.

The day

7:30

Doors open

Check in on the meeting level, with coffee and a morning spread before the first class.

8:00 to 11:40

Three morning classes

Sixty minutes each in three rooms, with a twenty-minute break between.

11:40

Lunch and the sustainability panel

An eighty-minute lunch, provided, with every attendee together for the panel.

1:00 to 4:40

Three afternoon classes

The second half of the slate, with an afternoon snack at the break.

4:40

Closing remarks and the prize drawing

A short close from SPC Alliance leadership and the drawing before the room moves to the bar.

5:00 to 7:00

Happy hour

Two hours at the hotel, light bites and no program, where the day's conversations finish.

Tracks and times shown are the working plan. The course titles, the rooms and the presenters are published when registration opens on December 1.

At a glance

Education that answers to the code.

A full day in the Seaport District, with the classrooms, lunch, the panel and the closing happy hour on one floor of the hotel, and a half-day ticket for those who can only give the morning or the afternoon.

Date

Thursday, March 11, 2027

A single day of classes for design professionals from greater Boston and across New England, full day or half day.

Venue

Aloft Boston Seaport

401 D Street, next to the Convention Center, about a mile from South Station and a short ride from Logan.

Registration

Opens December 1, 2026

The registration page will be linked here the day it opens, with the course list alongside it.