Foster + Partners and Neri Oxman complete the innovative design lab for OXMAN in New York City

Foster + Partners and Neri Oxman complete the groundbreaking design and innovation lab for OXMAN, headquartered in New York City...

all photos © Nicholas Calcott

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From the architect: Foster + Partners in collaboration with OXMAN have designed and completed an integrated laboratory, workshop, and studio space for OXMAN, a groundbreaking design practice with a mission to foster system-level changes that realign design and production methods with the natural world. Working at the intersection of computational design, robotics, green chemistry, biology, and ecological engineering, OXMAN’s new design and innovation lab is located in New York City within a purpose-built 36,000 square foot facility. The lab is housed across two levels with ample indoor and outdoor spaces that enhance and complement the company’s interdisciplinary ethos and commitment to designing with, by and for nature.

The lab features a state-of-the-art workshop – one of the most advanced digital fabrication facilities in New York City – including a prototyping and robotics shop that enables experimental work with large-scale collaborative robots, and a wet lab that meets Biosafety Level 2 standards including four customized data-driven grow rooms. The design and innovation laboratory includes an architectural studio, private meeting spaces, a library, an exhibition gallery, an open kitchen, a garden terrace, and a nursery.

All furniture is bespoke and has been designed by Foster + Partners Industrial Design working closely with OXMAN, including flexible workstations and integrated display systems that allow OXMAN team members to reconfigure their working environments with ease. Each of the 7-meter (23 foot) long desks, which have been custom-made for the space, is crafted from a single length of solid oak, with concealed storage and an innovative support structure creating a seamless finish. Trees were hand-selected from over 80 forests, ensuring both quality and ethical sourcing.

Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners, said: “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. 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.”

Neri Oxman, Founder and CEO, OXMAN, noted: “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. In other words, one can design, build, and deploy a bioreactor in a matter of hours.”  

The first level of the new studio acts as a catalyst for conversation and collaboration, with a natural material palette that reinforces a sense of wellbeing. A welcoming library space also functions as the reception area, featuring built-in shelving and a large table for private study or group discussions. An open plan workspace has soaring vaulted ceilings and is fully glazed on one side to provide spectacular views of the studio’s landscaped terrace and the city beyond. An open table provides a focal point for team meetings.

An adjacent row of individual glass offices contains sliding timber screens to conceal archived works and feature integrated mobile display units in the narrow vitrines between them. When aligned, the minimal display units illuminate objects on display and rest on casters so they can be rolled out and updated easily.

A central atrium connects the two levels, fills the workspaces with natural light, and provides a 9.1 meter (30-foot) tall space for rigging and building large-scale projects. The centerpiece of the studio is a one-of-a-kind staircase, which is made from folded white metal and glass. All glass joints are concealed behind the balustrades to create a floating, seamless finish.

The second level is centered around design and research processes with a range of wet labs, robotic labs, and prototyping spaces. Lab furniture is modular and mobile – including trolleys, double-sided cabinets, and bins – to enable a range of configurations. These modular elements fit snugly under desks or can be moved around to facilitate different modes of working. Designed for the project, customizable ‘supercharger totems’ feature data ports, different power voltages and vacuums, allowing employees to work anywhere within the space. Facing onto the main lab, four glass-fronted and data powered grow rooms known as ‘capsules’ are climatically controlled to optimize growth – a space where biology and technology, where nature and culture come together. “A machine in the garden,” comments Oxman.

A private conference room on the second level features a modular oak seating system that is readily reconfigured for meetings and video conferences.

Russell Hales, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners, said: “Building a comprehensive understanding of OXMAN’s interdisciplinary ethos has been key to the success of this project. Our design provides the team with a range of cutting-edge spaces for research and development, which can evolve rapidly to facilitate changing needs and enable the most collaborative working scenarios.”