Laboratories

Subterms

    Latest story

    138 Shares199 Views

    Neri Oxman launches New York practice in Foster + Partners-designed studio

    by

    Designer Neri Oxman has unveiled a studio in Midtown Manhattan designed with architecture studio Foster + Partners that houses a production workshop and wet lab.

    Oxman unveiled the lab for her studio, Oxman, in a building originally designed by American architect Albert Kahn as a car manufacturing plant and renovated by Rafael Viñoly Architects to house shops and offices.
    Neri Oxman has unveiled a studio designed with British architecture studio Foster + PartnersOxman’s team worked with Foster + Partners to design a two-storey studio on the 9th and 10th floors of the building.
    The 36,000-square-foot space (3,345 square metres) is characterised by white-painted walls and columns, and is largely open – most of the dividing walls are glass. The lower floor features design offices, a library, kitchen and lounge, while the upper floor holds the wet lab and production studio.
    “Every detail of this project has been developed in conjunction with Neri and her team, reflecting Oxman’s holistic approach that spans scales and disciplines,” said Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster.

    “Both levels of the new studio have their own distinctive characters and contain a range of highly adaptable workspaces and labs, which enhance creativity and will become an epicenter of world-leading research.”
    The studio is located in a building designed by Louis Kahn and renovated by Rafael Viñoly ArchitectsOxman said that the design of the studio was meant to be open, flexible and technical to enable collaboration between the designers, scientists, architects and other employees who work there.
    She said that the space was meant to facilitate the actualisation of her The Krebs Cycle of Creativity – a rendition of German-British scientist Hans Krebs’ diagram depicting stages of energy generation in organisms.
    It is two storeys and contains a wet lab and central glass staircase”The dream for this building, this lab was to embody the diagram,” said Oxman.
    “The lab looks clean and nice on the inside, but inside, packed in the ceiling and in the ground, are conduits that are embedded for insert allowing access to data, to power, to gasses that feed the workstations – there’s 70 miles worth of Ethernet and an optical cable for cloud computing.”
    It is characterised by white-painted walls, glass dividers and wooden furnitureThe entrance space for the studio is a central atrium lit from above by panel lights in the ceiling that conceal the complex mechanical systems, including over 100 miles of colour-coded cabling to enable high-speed data.
    One side of the first floor holds the design studio where rows of custom-produced wooden desks run perpendicular to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the high-rises of Hell’s Kitchen. A garden terrace with walkways and plants runs outside the windows.
    Conduits in the walls allow for access to data, power and gasses according to OxmanOpposite the windows run a series of private offices, completely lined in glass, with vitrines featuring samples of Oxman’s work, serving as visible dividers between each wood-backed space.
    On the other side of the first level, past a central stair, is a long conference table used for displaying work and models, and behind that a series of enclosed spaces for respite.
    It is meant to foster collaboration between employeesThe floating staircase was custom-designed for the space and has a single stringer at the top of the space and interlocking glass panels.
    The second storey holds a production workshop with robotic arms and 3D printers to fabricate shoes made from polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) – plastic-like molecules derived from bacteria.
    The interior is largely openAcross an atrium is a wet lab with custom Krion benches. Opposite the windows are a series of “capsules” that are heavily mechanized and can be used to simulate natural environments.
    According to Oxman, the studio is currently working on three primary areas: urban design and architecture, product design and molecular biology.
    The space was meant to facilitate the actualisation of The Krebs Cycle of CreativityOne of the biology products is a device called ALEF, which uses sensors to monitor biodiversity by training it to intake biogenic volatile organic compounds – described as “smells” – to provide data about environments.
    “From a biodiversity chamber designed to study and heal a struggling ecosystem to a ‘scent computer’ designed to concoct a functionalized fragrance with no harm to the environment, we seek to advance our understanding of the natural world while offering alternatives to methods of designing molecular goods that rely on monocropping,” said Oxman.
    “In fact, one of the most ecologically biodiverse environments in New York City currently thrives in our lab.”

    Neri Oxman and Bill Ackman told to alter Norman Foster design for their New York penthouse

    The opening of the studio corresponds with the announcement of this endeavor, as well as the bioplastic shoes and a series of modelling systems for urban design based on what Oxman calls “ecological programming” – AI-driven modelling programs used to make planning decisions to optimise for nonhuman, as well as human, life.
    “The Lab’s organizational ‘parti sketch’ perfectly mirrors the organizational and operational logic of the company, enabling tight physical and visual connectivity across zones dedicated to hardware, software, and wetware design,” said Oxman. “In other words, one can design, build, and deploy a bioreactor in a matter of hours.”
    “We are a design and innovation company,” she said. “We operate across scales, across disciplines and application domains, to target and to heal three broken industries.”
    The opening corresponds with a biology product called ALEFOxman, who is a former tenured professor at MIT and led The Mediated Matter Research Group, is known for her experiments in novel materials for construction such as melanin and silk.
    Earlier this year Oxman was caught up in an academic plagiarism row with Business Insider reporting that her dissertation was “marred by plagiarism”. She responded to allegations in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying she “omitted quotation marks for certain work that I used”.
    The photography is by Nicholas Calcott
    Project credits: 
    Collaborators: Foster + Partners, Adamson Associates Architects, Sciame HomesConsultants: Benchmark Woodworking, Cosentini Associates, Front Inc., Hollander Design, Jacobs Associates, Pentagram, Percival Scientific, Inc., Persak & Wurmfeld, Shen Milsom & Wilke, LLC, Silman, Spiralis, Syzygy 3, Inc., Tillotson & Associates, TKO Project Management

    Read more: More

    More stories

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in Rooms

      Gensler and Sterling Bay design Chicago laboratory to resemble a hotel

      by

      Light-filled spaces, neutral-toned furniture and a sculptural spiral staircase bring a hospitality feeling to this life sciences building in Chicago, designed by architecture studio Gensler and developer Sterling Bay.

      The eight-storey 1229 W Concord Place building is located at the Lincoln Yards development, northwest of Downtown Chicago and beside the north branch of the Chicago River.
      The building’s double-height lobby features comfy lounge areasIntended to bring much-needed lab spaces to this part of the city, which has a growing scientific community, the building’s developer Sterling Bay hopes it will foster collaborative research and new medical breakthroughs.
      “The new lab space will house world-class innovators and industry-leading companies that seek to develop groundbreaking medical solutions in Chicago and create a sense of community within their workplace,” said the project team.
      A spiral staircase connects the lobby with the floor aboveGensler’s Chicago office worked with Sterling Bay’s in-house design studio on both the architecture and interiors, with a focus on natural light and “bright, airy, open spaces”.

      The building is clad almost entirely in glass, which wraps around its curved corners, while terraces are cut into the side facing the river and the skyline.
      Neutral-toned wood panelling and furniture create a hospitality-style aestheticIn the double-height lobby, the stark white interiors are warmed by brass accents and soft, neutral-toned furniture.
      Several seating areas comprising comfy sofas and accent chairs are arranged on large textured rugs, and dotted with planting.
      The warm material palette continues in the elevator bankPanels of vertical wooden louvres and shelving provide a backdrop to these lounges, creating a scene that looks more like a hotel lobby than a science centre.
      A sculptural spiral staircase connecting the ground and first floors is loosely based on a DNA helix.
      Open floor plans and dedicated conference rooms are filled with natural lightThis feature provides another focal point in the lobby, which also doubles as a large meeting space and a reception area for events.
      “With warm hospitality-inspired interiors, sophisticated communal spaces, and a robust amenity selection centred around wellness, the design provides future tenants the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in a space that prioritises the wellbeing of scientists,” Steph Geronimo Smothers, vice president of design at Sterling Bay, told Dezeen.

      Geodes inform design of Arizona research building by Grimshaw and Architekton

      The amenities offered to tenants include a fitness centre, a cafe and conference spaces, while flexible floor plans allow tenants to customise their workspaces to suit their needs.
      The building also features Circadian rhythm lighting, which mimics changing daylight conditions to improve mood and sleep cycles.
      Staff can utilise the expansive terraces accessible from each of the building’s eight storeysStaff are encouraged to spill out onto the large outdoor terraces, accessible from every floor, and make the most of the fresh air.
      “1229 West Concord’s panoramic city views and expansive riverside terraces create a deep connection to nature, bringing in natural light and fresh air and pushing the boundaries of modern lab space to encourage blue-sky thinking and collaboration,” said Geronimo Smothers.
      The glass-wrapped building overlooks the Chicago River and the city skyline beyondOther laboratory buildings with unconventional architecture and interiors include the Walton Center of Planetary Health at Arizona State University, which Grimshaw and Architekton based on natural elements such as rocks and saguaro cacti.
      Gensler’s Chicago office also recently completed a series of renovations to the city’s sprawling 1930s The Merchandise Mart.
      The photography is by Hal + Merick + McCaugherty.

      Read more: More

    • 138 Shares189 Views

      in Rooms

      Universal Design Studio models Biotherm's Monaco concept store on a laboratory

      by

      The visual language of scientific laboratories informed the look of this blue-lit concept store in Monaco, which London firm Universal Design Studio has devised for skincare brand Biotherm.

      Set inside Monaco’s historic Oceanographic Institute, Blue Beauty Lab is where buyers and other industry insiders can come to expand their knowledge of the science underpinning Biotherm’s skincare line.
      Visitors enter the Blue Beauty Lab via a circular doorwayAlthough the 30-square-metre concept store showcases a selection of the brand’s products, none of them are for sale. Instead, visitors can fully immerse themselves in the experience of being in the “lab”.
      “Brands are increasingly looking to physical presence for means above and beyond selling products,” explained Satoshi Isono, creative director at Universal Design Studio.
      “They’re harnessing spaces to storytell their core brand messaging in unique ways and ultimately connect with customers in a more impactful way.”

      The first section of the store is set up like a science labAs the outer walls of Blue Beauty Lab back onto water tanks harbouring various aquatic creatures, Universal Design Studio had to keep architectural interventions to a minimum. As a result, the store’s floor plan is fairly simple.
      To enter, visitors walk through a circular doorway and a short mirrored tunnel. The interior is washed in sea-blue light and split into two parts.
      Steel worktops and petri dishes add to the lab-like feel of the spaceThe first is an area reminiscent of a research lab that gives an insight into the production process of Life Plankton – an extract containing 35 different nutrients that Biotherm incorporates throughout some of its moisturisers, serums and skin peels.
      Stainless steel counters and glass shelving units run down the sides of the space, dotted with science paraphernalia like microscopes, petri dishes, test tubes and measuring flasks.

      Johannes Torpe Studio creates laboratory-style bicycle store for United Cycling

      A small workshop forms the second part of the store, centred by a round table. Directly above is a large ring light emitting a bright white glow that enhances the lab-like feel of the space.
      Interactive visuals produced by multimedia design studios Superbien and AC3 Studio are projected on the surrounding walls.
      Measuring flasks and test tubes are also displayed on the shelvesThe clinical aesthetic of laboratories has also inspired a number of other interiors.
      Among them is a bike shop in Copenhagen by local designer Johannes Torpe and a cafe in Tokyo with a white-lacquered steel ceiling grid.

      Read more: More