Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech

City

Region

Cladding Area75 000 sf

ArchitectWeiss / Manfredi

OwnerBrookfield

Project type,

Phase of InvolvementDesign
Construction

Type of Construction

Year of Completion2016

Sustainability

Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech is a major advancement in the university’s effort to bring industry and academia together on its groundbreaking Roosevelt Island campus. The project is a seven-story corporate co-location building, a contemporary R&D hub that is a flexible incubator designed to accelerate the pace of innovation at Cornell Tech. Open circulation and interconnected double-height spaces foster dialogue between the University’s disciplinary hubs and tech companies of all sizes, providing shared entrepreneurial activities and academic inquiry.

The building’s crystalline geometries frame river to river views and bring daylight into all the spaces of the building. At the campus level, the building’s entrance atrium opens to the central campus green and is linked to the campus grounds with a series of landscaped terraces. The entry creates a three-dimensional crossroads that encourages spontaneous conversations and collaboration throughout the building.

The cantilevered southwest and northeast wings shelter outdoor social spaces that animate the ground floor and entry terrace. The silhouette of the rooftop photovoltaic canopy unifies the campus’ architectural expression and is an iconic signature of the University’s commitment to sustainability. As an important element of Cornell Tech’s new graduate campus, The Tata Innovation Center is a crystalline incubator, recasting prior academic and corporate models to establish a catalytic setting for research and innovation.

Heintges provided curtain wall and building envelope consulting services during all phases of design and construction including NYC Special Inspections.

Photographs © Albert Vecerka / Esto