Cornell Tech

Client
Cornell Tech

Location
New York, New York

Sector
Cultural Experiences

Size
2,500 sqft

As a temporary home for the rapidly evolving Cornell Tech graduate program, we created a “learning toolkit” of working hubs and surfaces that encourage collaboration. Cornell Tech is a fully portable and transformable college campus built inside Google’s Chelsea offices.

It was important that the design concept reflected the rapidly evolving nature of the program, as well as its collaborative nature. Scaffolding-like frames provide access to flexible power drops and projectors, while standing desks and large work surfaces make up the common area. The flexibility of these kit-of-parts allows them to be packed into each other, taking up minimal space when desired. 

The open, reconfigurable workspace used wall signage and graphics to help define the space, as well as build a connection to the university. The modern lines and raw materials suggest the prototypical nature of the space, informing the design of Cornell Tech’s future home on Roosevelt Island.