Project Details
- Project Name
- Cornell Tech Campus Framework Plan
- Architect
- SOM
- Client/Owner
- Cornell University
- Project Types
- Planning
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- On the Boards/In Progress
This article appeared in the June 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.
Roosevelt Island is New York City’s perpetual “neighborhood of the future,” a screen on which generations of designers have tried—and repeatedly failed—to project an image of the “new” city. But with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Cornell Tech Campus Framework Plan, the southern side of the slender landmass in the East River assumes a credible and durable form—one that is truly integrated into the city as a whole.
On nearly 13 acres of land, SOM has created a center for innovation that serves as a year-round intellectual community as well as a public amenity. It’s a gateway of sorts to both the ruins of the island’s abandoned 19th-century smallpox hospital and Louis Kahn’s Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park to the south. Flanked by waterfront promenades and marked by open space master planned and designed by James Corner Field Operations, the campus is equal parts conventional collegiate quad and dynamic urban experience, with a central spine intersected by angled tributary paths at irregular intervals. Like a tree with its branches, the various walkways “sprout” in the form of structures (those by Morphosis Architects, Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, and Handel Architects are already complete; two by Snøhetta are still forthcoming), each angled to enjoy optimal views of Manhattan on one side and Queens on the other.
The functional diversity of the plan, which intermingles residential and educational uses, is further enhanced by dining spaces and public areas, inside and out. Not just for students and faculty, the communal feel of the campus makes it an ideal resting spot for those making a sojourn to the hospital, the park, or the campus—a worthwhile destination on its own.
Project Credits
Project: Cornell Tech Campus Framework Plan
Location: New York, NY
Client: Cornell University
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York . Roger Duffy, FAIA (design partner); Laura Ettelman, AIA (managing partner); Mark Regulinski, AIA (managing director); Colin Koop, AIA (senior design director); Meredith Bostwick-Lorenzo Eiroa, AIA (project manager); Carrie Moore, AIA (technical director); Kimberly Garcia (technical architect); Oriana Cole, AIA (technical coordinator); Meredith Klein (designer); John Sunwoo, AIA (technical designer)
Construction Manager: Tishman Construction Corp.
Open Space Master Planner and Landscape Architect: James Corner Field Operations
Framework Plan/RFP Phase Team: Forest City Ratner Corp. (master developer); Hudson; the Related Cos. (housing developers); U3 Advisors (development strategy); New York City Economic Development Corp. ( public sector partner); Karen Backus & Associates (project manager and development advisor); Sirefman Ventures (strategy); Tishman Construction Corp. ( pre-construction & cost estimating); In Posse (sustainability engineering planning); Two Twelve (graphic design); Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson(real estate/land use counsel); AKF (MEP?FP); Robert Silman Associates (structural engineering); Philip Habib & Associates (civil/transportation engineer)
Phase I/Central Utility Plant & Site Development Consulting Team: Jaros, Baum & Bolles (ME engineer/IT/scurity planning); Philip Habib & Associates (civil engineer); Langan Engineering (geotechnical engineer); DeSimone Consulting Engineers (structural engineer); Cerami & Associates (acoustical engineer); Pentagram (signage/wayfinding); Gleeds (cost estimating); Langan Engineering (demolition); RWDI (computational fluid dynamics modeling); Brandston Partnership (lighting design planning); Kasirer (government relations/outreach); BerlinRosen (communications); Appleseed (economic impact analysis)
Bloomberg Center Team: Morphosis Architects (architect); Barr & Barr (construction manager)
Tata Innovation Center Team: Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism (architect); Turner Construction Co. (construction manager); Forest City Ratner (developer)
The House at Cornell Tech Team: Handel Architects (architect); Hudson; the Related Cos.; Cornell University (development team); Monadnock (construction manager)
Central Utility Plant Team: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (architect); Tishman Construction (construction manager); Cornell University; Forest City Ratner (development team)
Hotel Team: Stonehill & Taylor Architects(architect of record); Snøhetta (architect); Graduate Hotels (operator); AJ Capital Partners; Cornell University (development team)
Verizon Executive Education Center Team: Snøhetta (architect); Cornell University (developer)
Size: 12.4 acres; 2,000,000 gross square feet
Cost: Estimated $2 billion (both phases)
Project Description
This project won a 2020 AIA Regional & Urban Design Awards.
FROM THE AIA:
Rigorously principled but highly adaptable in its approach, this master plan outlines the growth of Cornell University’s applied science program. Envisioned as free of discrete academic departments, the plan establishes an open and collaborative community of designers, engineers, and scientists on a boundary-free, 12.4-acre site woven into the greenspace of New York’s Roosevelt Island.
The plan emerged from a 2010 competition launched by the New York City Economic Development Corporation that explored whether the creation of an institution could spur economic development. The ambitious challenge carried with it city-owned land and $100 million. Cornell was one of 27 institutions to respond, ultimately winning with its proposal to create a $2 billion, 2 million-square-foot campus where open spaces would eliminate the boundaries between the academic and commercial worlds.
The campus is organized around a central pedestrian boulevard called Techwalk, which connects the island’s Main Street with Four Freedoms Park. Buildings and outdoor rooms line Techwalk and offer a number of uniquely programmed spaces to support a diverse mix of uses. Every outdoor room boasts views of Midtown Manhattan and Queens’ waterfront and is optimized for its intended use. Apartments, workspaces, restaurants, and outdoor amenities are all mixed together in the plan, while parcels of land shaped by pathways provide ample space for future expansion informed by design briefs that support new program requirements.
Given its location, sustainability was a driving force behind the plan for the campus, and the team took a holistic approach to its design. To protect the campus from rising sea levels, Techwalk rises five to seven feet above the 500-year floodplain elevation. A central utility plant, which includes renewable energy sources such as fuel cells, provides the campus’ electrical spot network system and sits on the site’s highest ridge.
By fundamentally rethinking 21st century pedagogy, this plan lays out a vision for a new type of educational institution that is fully engaged with the community and surrounding industries. Pedestrian-oriented, dynamic, and sustainable, the envisioned campus is a microcosm of the city itself.
Project Credits:
Open Space Master Planner and Landscape Architect: James Corner Field Operations
Master Developer: Forest City Ratner Corporation
Housing Developer: Hudson and the Related Companies
Development Strategy: U3 Advisors
Public Sector Partner: New York City Economic Development Corporation
Project Manager & Development Advisor: Karen Backus & Associates
Strategy: Sirefman Ventures
Pre-Construction & Cost Estimating: Tishman Construction
Engineer - MEP: AKF
Sustainability Engineering Planning: In-Posse
Structural Engineering Planning: Robert Silman
Engineer - Civil & Transportation: Philip Habib & Associates (PHA)
Graphic Design: Two Twelve
Real Estate & Land Use Counsel: Fried Frank
