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Construction Update



REBECCA BAIRD-REMBA
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Cornell broke ground on its new tech campus on Roosevelt Island in June, and now a spokesperson for the project has sent along a few photos documenting its progress.

Workers are laying the foundation and driving home the first steel columns for the main academic building, which was christened the Bloomberg Center after the former mayor gifted $100 million for its construction. He chose to name the building after his two daughters, Emma and Georgina Bloomberg.



Cornell hopes the structure will become one of the largest net-zero energy buildings in the world, with all of its energy generated on campus. It will feature a combination of open plan classrooms and offices, as well as private work spaces. Morphosis Architecture—who are also behind the angular Cooper Union building at 41 Cooper Square—designed the futuristic development.

The complex will also encompass The Bridge, a six-story tech incubator that will “house an ecosystem of companies, researchers, and entrepreneurs who are focused on catalyzing innovation and the commercialization of new products and technologies,” according to a press release. WEISS/Manfredi is designing the building, which hopes to achieve LEED Silver certification, and Forest City Ratner is developing it.

Then the third major piece of the campus will be a 26-story residential building, with 500 rooms for faculty, students and researchers. The 270-foot-tall tower will be constructed to Passive House standards, incorporating 15-inch-thick walls to make the structure air-tight. The designer, Handel Architects, chose to create the facade out of prefabricated metal panels, complete with windows installed at the factory, according to the Times. Hudson and Related Companies are the developers.