NJIT Central King Building
At the juncture of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s campus in downtown Newark, New Jersey is the new Central King Building. Made up of two individual volumes—a former High School built in 1912 and an addition built in the 1970s—the facility now houses an Academic Center for its five colleges that serves as a catalyst for innovation while reconnecting it with the city and the campus.
©David Sundberg/ESTO
1912 Campus Elevation
Program Organization
The steep grade of the site allows entry at all three lower levels, and the opportunity to connect these as the public floors. The upper three academic floors ring a light court (above an auditorium which is to be renovated in a future phase). This difference in access determined the program organization for the building and a phasing strategy, which allowed the building to remain occupied during its four year construction period.
©David Sundberg/ESTO
The vestibule below the entry steps serves as an impromptu meeting spot and connection from building to campus. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
Multiple entry levels are an opportunity to connect to campus and city, but also a challenge to keep students and visitors oriented and engaged across three levels and 300 feet. New floor openings and open stairs create physical and visual connections and bring daylight deep into the building.
Sleek modern interventions highlight the texture of the historic steel structure. Brick bearing walls and terracotta floor slabs create an inspiring environment to develop and present projects. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
©David Sundberg/ESTO
©David Sundberg/ESTO
An open stair at the juncture between the 1912 and 1969 weaves together programs and building sections. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
©David Sundberg/ESTO
A new mezzanine adapts the 1969 gym to be NJIT’s ILAB, a hub for collaboration between academics and entrepreneurs. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
Bedrock that was exposed to connect an elevator to the building’s lowest level was stabilized in battered concrete. A trace of the 1912 building within the 1969 addition. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
An open stair extends the public sequence to the lowest building level. The skylight offers light and a glimpse of the 1912 façade. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
Play of shadows and light animate the descent to the lowest building level. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
©David Sundberg/ESTO
Classrooms
Lecture rooms keep students close to the presenter while classrooms easily adapt from front focused instruction to collaborative clusters. Technology comes out of the mill-work to support each mode. ©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
Classroom
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
Classroom
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
Classroom
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
A gradient of enclosure along the hallways encourages chance encounters to develop into focused collaboration. Seating and work surfaces invite engagement as you circulate. Group study lounges, just off the hallway present a stopping point to debate. Small glass walled meeting rooms allow the users to concentrate, while remaining part of the public zone. ©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
Research labs designed for openness and flexibility use a modular benching system and overhead support grid to ease reconfiguration. Historic features like steel columns, brick walls, and terracotta deck structure compliment the technology. ©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
©Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo
©David Sundberg/ESTO
Marvel was asked to restore and alter the 1912 building envelope, creating physical and visual links between the campus and the grand landmark. NJIT was conscious that the existing structure, like much of the campus, turned its back on Martin Luther King Boulevard and closed itself off from the city of Newark. The project creates a new connection to campus on one side and reestablishes a connection to the city on the other. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
Diagonal braces and glass replace opaque masonry to open the campus to the street. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
Pulling the grade away from the historic building facade created a two story entrance that activates the pedestrian walkway day and night. ©David Sundberg/ESTO
- Location
- Newark, New Jersey
- Client
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Typology
- Higher Education, Sustainable , Institutional, Campus Design
- Size
- 200,000 SF
- Design Team
- Jonathan Marvel, Guido Hartray, Jennifer Olson, Magnus Westergren, Karen Cilento, Eckart Graeve, Alex Diez
- Consultants
- A&J Enginnering(Building system engineer) Silman (Structural engineer) Jim Conti (Lighting) Bowman Engineering (Civil ) Code Green (LEED) The Sextant Group (Audio Visual) Code Consultants Professional Engineers, PC (Code and Accessibility) Van Deusen & Associates(Elevator) Fisher Dachs Assoc (Theatre Planning and Design ) Jaffee Holden (Acoustics) Roof Maintenance Systems (Roof) Jacobs Consultants (Lab Planning) Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. (Historic Preservation consultant)
- Awards
- AIA New Jersey Design Merit Award, NJ Business and Industry Association Good Neighbor Award
- Photography Credits
- David Sundberg/ESTO, Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo, Nova Concepts
