KRISHNA P. SINGH CENTER FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY BY WEISS/MANFREDI

Poised at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus, this is the first major academic building that announces the presence of the campus within West Philadelphia.The building will open with an official dedication ceremony on October 4th.

As the university's first cross disciplinary building, the new nanotech Research Facility will encourage the collaboration, exchange, and integration of knowledge that characterizes the study of this emerging field and will combine the resources of both the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences.

Defined by a new central campus green, the building ascends as a spiral of research, reaching its highest elevation at the forum, a meeting space that cantilevers over the quad and opens to views of both the city and campus. The building location, the north side of the 3200 block of Walnut Street, sits adjacent to a major approach to the University from the east.

As the foremost major academic building at this entrance to campus, the new Center will represent the presence of the Campus within University City and communicate the role of Penn as a global leader in scientific research and education.

The building and landscape will provide a graceful transition to the academic environment and celebrate the commitment of the University to its West Philadelphia neighborhood. Both the University and Philadelphia have a tradition of organizing buildings around open quads.

Laboratory buildings are typically organized around a central corridor and afford little public space. The Center for Nanotechnology focuses the laboratories around a central quad, opening the Sciences to the University landscape and providing a new indoor/outdoor open space for interaction.

A new multi-level crossroads, the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology is a significant step toward signaling the University's leadership in the emerging field of nanotechnology.

The new 78,000 square foot facility will have state-of-the-art lab spaces including a 10,000 square foot Bay/Chase Cleanroom, a 6,500 square foot Characterization Suite, and 12,000 square foot of Laboratory Modules. Vibrant, centralized public spaces include the public Galleria, conference rooms, and multipurpose Forum space.

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Architects: WEISS / MANFREDI

Project Designer: Cheryl Baxter

Curtain Wall Consultant: R. A. Heintges & Associates

Acoustical Consultant: Cerami & Associates, Inc.

Construction: Gilbane Building Company

Area: 100,000 sf

Cost: $80 million

Year: 2013

HUNTERS POINT SOUTH WATERFRONT PARK BY THOMAS BALSLEY ASSOCIATES

The park, which occupies a site that was previously marsh wetland and a drained landfill, is part of a larger, ambitious master plan to transform the area into a modern ecological community that includes the largest affordable housing effort in New York City since the 1970s.

Hunters Point South Waterfront Park marking the first chapter of rejuvenation for the riverside neighbourhood in Queens, New York. The waterfront park is a dynamic, multi-faceted destination that is set to bring a hoard of new visitors to the area.

Hunters Point comprises a sprawling oval-shaped green to accommodate all types of recreational uses: an urban beach that's ready for picnickers and volleyball; a rail garden that features native fauna planted over disused freight rails; and a soaring, eye-catching pavilion that connects urban-dwelling areas to the East River waterfront and an elevated wooden pier.

Apart from its exciting design and location, what really sets Hunters Point South Waterfront Park apart is the undercurrent of sustainability that runs through its every aspect.

Aside from turning a 20-acre abandoned, post-industrial waterfront into prime real estate, the park boasts a new urban plan that includes bioswales that filter stormwater from Center Boulevard, bikeways, and upland smart streets with banquette seating to allow comfortable enjoyment of the skyline views.

Concrete bulk-heads have been replaced with new wetlands and green pathways that lead to a 30-foot high overlook that's suspended over the water's edge. The pavilion itself, which is made from folded plates to collect storm water, is also installed with 64 photovoltaic panels that generates 37,000 kWh per year.

It will start off powering 50% of the park, with the vision of adding more panels to eventually power the park entirely. Even the dog run consists of a water rill and stacked timber seating. With the development of 5,000 permanently affordable residential units and a school both to come, the park is a perfect starting point for uniting the area's industrial past and its multi-cultural future.

“Hunters Point South is envisioned as an international model of urban ecology and a world laboratory for innovative sustainable thinking. The project is a collaboration between Thomas Balsley Associates and Weiss/Manfredi for the open space and park design with ARUP as the prime consultant and infrastructure designer. The site is waterfront and city, gateway and sanctuary, blank slate and pentimento.

These readings suggest an approach to the landscape that enhances what is unique about the site, while framing a new multi-layered identity as a recreational and cultural destination.

New open spaces with connections to the surrounding communities, provide access to the water’s edge and spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. The design incorporates active and passive recreation and a broad array of sustainable initiatives, transforming Hunters Point South into a new cultural and ecological paradigm.” Thomas Balsley Associates and Weiss/Manfredi

Location: Queens, New York

Architects: Thomas Balsley Associates and Weiss/Manfredi

Year: 2013

Client: New York City Economic Development Corporation

Photography: Albert Vecerka/Esto

DESIGN LOFT BY WEISS/MANFREDI

Winner of an international design competition, WEISS/MANFREDI's Design Loft will become Kent State University's new home for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

The Design Loft is a site for new connections. Sited strategically at the hinge between campus and city, the Design Loft forms a new hub connecting the college with the City of Kent. Anchoring the public level is a continuous gallery that opens to the university's new outdoor Esplanade.

The gallery is an ascending sequence of spaces that can be connected and reconfigured to support a range of uses and events including a café, exhibition areas, a flexible event space, a reading room, and a resource library. A continuous studio loft forms the heart of the program.

Open studios are configured to maximize flexibility to accommodate a growing program and evolving modes of learning in architecture and design education. 

The 125,000 square-foot building establishes an innovative center for the design disciplines and creates a new window onto the creative, artistic, and research-based programs of the College.

The studio's tiered design informs the building massing, bridging the institutional and residential scales of its neighbors. The massing and materials of the new building reflect the material context of the campus and the surrounding community.

A continuous stair on the north façade allows for generous amphitheater steps that connect studio critique spaces and create opportunities for spontaneous discussion.

Slender clerestory lights within the critique spaces bring light into the center of the floor and improve natural ventilation. The efficient form of the building maximizes daylight and minimizes energy use throughout.

The south façade is activated by a continuous fire stair that connects the studio levels. Conceived as a vertical campus quad, this cantilevered route interweaves the spaces of the building into those of the campus.

CORPORATE CO-LOCATION BUILDING BY WEISS/MANFREDI

The WEISS/MANFREDI designed Corporate Co-Location Building for the new campus is a major advancement to the university's effort to bring technology, industry, and academia together in New York City.

The CornellNYC TechCorporate Co-Location Building is a major advancement in the university's effort to bring industry and academia together on its groundbreaking Roosevelt Island campus.

This seven story contemporary "R and D" hub is a flexible incubator designed to accelerate the pace of innovation at Cornell NYC Tech. The loft-like design of the building fosters dialogue between Cornell's disciplinary hubs and tech companies of all sizes, providing shared spaces for 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, Tech Gallery, the building's central atrium, opens to the central campus green and is linked to the campus grounds with a series of landscaped terraces.

The gallery and atrium open to views across the campus and create 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 retail spaces and entry terrace. The silhouette of the rooftop photovoltaic canopy unifies the campus' architectural expression and is an iconic signature of Cornell's commitment to sustainability.

As an important element of Cornell's new graduate campus, the Co-Location Building is a crystalline incubator, recasting prior academic and corporate models to establish a catalytic setting for research and innovation.

"We hope to create visual and physical connections between academic and profession hubs to foster an ecosystem of innovation." Marion Weissand Michael Manfredi.