Merck Office Fit-Outs

OFFICE HQ FIT-OUT

Rahway, NJ
May 2020-Current

Enscape_2020-10-28-14-32-01	Enscape_2020-10-28-14-19-12	3-4 stair
screen wall	screen wall2	lobby
lobby stair	4th flr1	4th flr conf 1
4th flr3	4th flr2	4th flr4

The above images are sourced material. I did not produce them.

Project Description:

This project was a renovation of the corporate headquarters for the client's Rahway Campus. The 93,900 SF building consists of three occupied floors of public space, enclosed and open/flexible workspaces, an executive office, enclosed collaborative spaces, a conference center, and associate amenities such as break-out rooms and destination cafe. A partial 4th floor (shell space for future fit out) as well as an unoccupied basement level with mechanical and storage areas were also included. The project is to be LEED Gold, WELL Building, and Universal Design certified. The existing building envelope and structure was maintained, with new exterior windows, HVAC/plumbing and interior layout. Our goal was to provide a welcoming and accessible entrance for visitors and employees alike. ADA Accessible ramps will be provided at all major entrances. Providing equal access and Universal Design is paramount to the goals of the project and owner. There will also be an exterior dining area adjacent to the destination café.

Artificial Nature Collage	Artificial Nature Model	Layering Model
Framing Model	Detail vs Master Plan Model	Natural vs. Artificial Model
Abandoned Spaces Map	Layering Collage	Framing Collage
	Detail vs. Master Plan Collage	Nature vs. Artificial Collage
	Design Artifact

This project is a renovation of the corporate headquarters, including private, enclosed workspaces, open and flexible workspaces, conference rooms, and associate amenities such as break rooms and break our spaces, for our client's Rahway Campus. Our goal is to provide a welcoming and accessible entrance for visitors and employees alike. ADA Accessible ramps will be provided at all major entrances. Providing equal access and Universal Design is paramount to the goals of the project and owner. There will be an exterior dining area adjacent to the destination café.

High Bridge	High Bridge	High Bridge
500px-High_Bridge_and_high_service_works

The above images are sourced material. I did not produce them.

The site I focused on for this thesis is the High Bridge in Bronx, NY. The High Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects the suburbs of Highbridge, Concourse and Mt. Eden over the Harlem river with Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill in Upper Manhattan. The oldest bridge in New York City, the Highbridge was built in the 1848 as part of the Croton Aqueduct. It was originally built as a stone arch bridge, but the portion that spans over the Harlem river was replaced with steel in 1927. It brought water from the Croton Aqueduct into the city, until that function ceased in the 1950’s and it became a purely pedestrian walkway. The Highbridge has been closed for over 40 years due to crime, neglect and fiscal contraction along the waterfront.

What must be done to take the first step in the road to recovery for this area, and all like it? What must that first move be, no matter how small, to begin a chain reaction of improvement? Implementing one grandiose, large-scale solution will not likely see success. Instead, a design system promoting individual ownership, initiative, and upkeep is proposed on this abandoned bridge. This system of design, based on the philosophies of the Japanese Garden, will result in the High Bridge Market, offering many shops providing service and care for the surrounding areas in need.

Example Modules	System	Collage
Principles	Conceptual Model	Conceptual Model
Conceptual Model	System Rules	Perspective Sketch
Perspective Sketch	Perspective Sketch	b4efcd70-5821-42fb-aa68-eb60fa2af481 cop

The role of the designer now becomes that of the gardener. And the aim of the gardener is to plant the seeds, the philosophical principles realized in small crafted moments, in order to develop and manifest into a beautifully functioning microcosm of the universe, while experiencing some of these phenomena as a result. Each seed planted in a unique location will bring about a unique outcome.

What is the system of design that plants these seeds and produces flexible, varied and diverse architecture based on the same foundation? A multicellular organism where each cell has its own “gardener” and works independently following predetermined conditions, yet results in unique outcomes. The program of the High Bridge consists of a series of markets, commercial spaces, and public spaces for the surrounding areas to use on a daily basis, especially during their commute. Many of the modules are commercial or food shops, such as bakeries, sandwich shops, cafes, markets, clothing stores, shoe stores, drugstores, jewelry/accessories stores, souvenir shops, electronics stores, or bike repair shops. In the spaces that are not occupied by a physical structure, open park/seating space allow for moments of pause and relaxation on the busy bridge. The goal for these shops is to provide a connection between the two separated neighborhoods, or in the larger sense the suburb and city, and to provide services that both populations are in need of.

Circulation Map	Elevation	Section
Japanese Principles	Axonometric	Detailed Axonometric
Section	Section	Section
The System	Structure	Structure
Bridge Perspective	Bridge Perspective	Shop Perspective
Bike Path Perspective	Bike Path Perspective	Cafe Perspective
Seating Area Perspective	Personal Expression Diagram

The first portion of this project focused on the abstraction of Japanese principles and their translation in the project. The principles chosen and developed for the design system were borrowed scenery, planes and volumes, personal expression in tradition, void and accent, and detail vs. master plan. The most important of these principles that dictated the execution of the project was detail vs. master plan, which in a Japanese garden is designing up from the details rather than down from a master plan. For this design, the existing bridge structure acted as the “master plan” that the system could then be implemented on to create the market. The second portion of the project focused on the design of the system that is used by each owner to create each shop. Conditions such as size, height, cantilever over the bridge, door type, panel type, degree of customer entrance, and schedule were given a number of options that each owner can choose from. Each shop is built within the framework structure dictated by the existing bridge. The system results in complexity, since each outcome is unique despite being created using the same system.

Since the goal of this project was to design “up from the details” and not using a master plan, a random output generator was utilized to create each shop using the conditions given through the system to simulate how the market might look like when created by multiple shop owners. Two bike paths on either side of the bridge would separate cycling traffic from pedestrian traffic to allow more space for people to navigate the shops and plenty of space for cyclists to ride. Tension cables extend down from the structure, anchoring the bike paths to the bridge.

In conclusion, a design system promoting individual ownership, initiative, and upkeep is proposed on the abandoned High Bridge in Bronx, NY. A coherent system of rules create unique outcomes according to multiple user’s needs. This system of design, based on the philosophies of the Japanese garden, can create a microcosm of personalized, independent spaces that grow and change overtime without the need of an overall master plan. All of these unique spaces together form a commercial concourse and linkage that serve the local communities that the bridge connects. Markets, bakeries, shops, cafes, convenience stores, clothing stores, all make up a part of this network, which constantly fluctuates according to each owner’s needs of their space and grows overtime. A new major commercial space will bring economic prosperity and opportunity in an area claimed by neglect and abandonment. The goal of this project is that it will gradually bring back the population that once fled from the deteriorated conditions sparked by urban flight. By first planting the seeds through the principles of the system, this living bridge eventually dissolves the existing structure and reveals a new, complex, transforming landscape.