2007 Design Awards • Category: Adaptive Reuse
Syracuse Technology Garden
Syracuse, New York
Date of Completion: October 2004
HISTORY:
In 1994, the Downtown Syracuse MONY Towers’ 5 story parking & retail building originally built in 1967, partially collapsed due to structural failure. The City had the parking levels demolished, leaving the ground floor retail portion intact. The one-story, 34,000 sq.ft. structure remained an abandoned eye sore occupying the plaza center for 8 years. In 2002, the City’s Chamber of Commerce proposed the idea of adapting the structure to serve as a new incubator center to develop and showcase technology start up businesses downtown.
PROJECT PROGRAM:
The main objective for the new ‘Technology Center’ was simple: to provide inexpensive tenant spaces and administrative amenities for start-up technology companies with an environment encouraging interaction and creative thinking. The program required tenant spaces in a variety of sizes, shared conference and seminar rooms, office services, lunchroom, reception, and common areas. Common areas were to engage tenants formally or informally to network and share ideas for the mutual support of tenant endeavors.
DESIGN INTENT:
The City requested efficient space allocation to maximize available tenant space. The design solution leveraged the circulation areas to double as programmatic common areas, providing opportunities for casual interaction and brainstorming.
SPECIAL CHALLENGES:
The project included replacing the building roof, exterior envelope, and adding new mechanical and electrical systems. To accommodate variations in the existing floor elevations, concrete floor topping had to be poured throughout. With 19-ft high structure, the challenge would be to take advantage of the volume in the circulation spaces without reducing space efficiency. Including all these factors, the budget was limited to $88/sf.
DESIGN APPROACH:
The new environment responds to the mission: supporting technology and creative thinking. The minimally glazed reception area is located at a highly visible intersection. The adjacency of a large multi-media conference center permits seminars to occur without disruption to tenants. The main circulation spine splits down the building’s center at an angle, while secondary cross circulation points are expressed by cone shaped ‘nodes’. Each secondary circulation path terminates at glazed meeting rooms or glazed areas of the building envelope allowing penetration of natural light and exterior views.
Instinctively, the desire was to perceive the interior volume and height of the structure, even within the corridors. To maintain comfortable proportions, the upper portion of the corridor walls is set back above 10-feet, creating a spacious feel without reducing tenant space. These setbacks are illuminated with inexpensive fluorescent strips. Display panels mounted along the main circulation spine showcase invention and foster impromptu brainstorming. Only the new interior construction is painted, contrasting the original “raw” building skeleton, to emphasize and celebrate new concepts and innovation.
