The certificate of incorporation explains that the club was formed "for the purpose of associating those interested in the profession of architecture with a view to mutual encouragement and help in studies, and acquiring and maintaining suitable premises, property, etc., necessary to a social club... and...for public lectures, exhibitions, classes, and entertainment."

The BAC began its formal educational program under the joint leadership of Herbert Langford Warren and Clarence Blackall.

Like its informal predecessor, the BAC soon developed into an atelier affiliated with the Society of the École des Beaux-Arts in New York.

The BAC's design curriculum, teaching methods, and philosophy closely resembled those of the École des Beaux-Arts.

The BAC building contained a two-story Great Hall – designed by Ralph Adams Cram – as well as other spaces used for lectures, meetings and exhibitions, a library, and several studios.

In the 1930s most American schools of architecture broke away from the Beaux-Arts tradition and began to establish their own curricula and teaching methods.

The BAC began to draw its faculty from nearby architectural schools and the extended local community of related professionals.

In 2007, BAC acquired 951/955 Boylston Street, the former home of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, for $7.22 million.

The former Back Bay Police Station Division 16 was built in 1887 and subsequently served as home to Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.

The college also offers classes through the Sustainable Design Institute (SDI) and the Continuing Education program.

The design uses cantilevered, suspended masonry masses and accentuated vertical "slits" in the exterior by which some of the building's core functions can be seen from the outside.

The "extra floors" were never rented, and the expanding student body and staff needed to support them quickly placed demands on all existing space.

In 1987, to accommodate its growth, the BAC purchased the adjoining building at 322 Newbury Street, a former carriage house built in 1899.