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COWORKING OFFICE
bestofyear
coworking office
Kearny Point Building 78 Annex, South Kearny, New Jersey
At Kearny Point,World War II shipbuilders were experts at assembling and disassembling vessels at record speeds before shutting down in 1948. When Studios was hired to convert six blocks on the 130-acre site into a creative office hub, the team knew scalability would once again triumph, combined with an interconnectedness to existing plans by WXY Architecture + Urban Design. Together, the two firms transformed 90,000square-feet of the storied shipyard into forward-looking work spaces and amenities at the Annex, which abuts the larger WXY-designed Building 78.
To achieve the Annex’s bright interiors, Studios inserted a second floor to maximize leasable office areas for larger outfits or for anchor tenants likely to grow over time. A central opening in the new floor plate allows daylight from the original sawtooth skylights, now uncovered and re-fitted, to penetrate to the ground floor, where a vibrant orange demarcates communal spaces including a row of colorful booths that nod to similar seating next door. A conversation pit sits beneath the central staircase, anchored by one of two large original beams still flaunting their historic patina. Aluminum paint coats other existing columns and beams, adding to a utilitarian palette of concrete, corrugated metal, glass, wood-dowel walls, and plate steel. Ultimately, the backdrop of monumental history and its vessels now invites the interactions that draw pandemic-savvy talent to any physical workplace. —Meghan Edwards
STUDIOS ARCHITECTURE: GRAHAM CLEGG; DAVID BURNS; DAVE FRANKNECHT; MERVE POYRAZ. WXY ARCHITECTURE + URBAN DESIGN: CLAIRE WEISZ; LAYNG PEW; ROBERT DAURIO; YEJU CHOI.
