NASA

2021 - Cleveland, OH, USA

Architect: TEN Arquitectos/Enrique Norten with ASA/Andrea Steele

In 2003, ASA, then TEN Arquitectos, was shortlisted amongst 12 other highly regarded architecture firms to design the Research Support Building for their innovation campus. The client’s extremely detailed list of required spaces left limited room for dreaming up an aspirational environment worthy of an institution that sends humans up to the moon. ASA responded with questions: how can this building become a gateway to the outside world? Is it possible to create a feeling of interconnectedness amidst a cluster of private, independent offices and laboratories?

The NASA campus in Cleveland, Ohio, is in such proximity to the international airport, that when seen from above, the site of the new building appears like the literal cross hairs that it symbolizes for the research center complex. Running north-south, a sequence of open-office and training spaces are contained between a service bar that houses private offices and meeting rooms, and a resource wall of support functions. The service spaces, including loading docks, kitchen, and mechanical rooms, are located primarily at the northern end of the structure.

Bisecting these elements is a raised cantilevered platform containing campus communal spaces including a dining area. This elevated structure reaches out toward the campus’ main artery, Taylor Road, creating a large covered plaza leading to the building’s main entrance. The communal bar marks the separation between the open office and dedicated-use campus resource spaces in the longer volume.

The design of the landscape, including the establishment of the new “Wright Commons,” aims to celebrate the heart of the historic research campus by acting as a nucleus for people from across campus to congregate. Metal panels, corrugated metal, and glass elements were thoughtfully chosen to reflect the existing industrial palette and celebrate NASA’s ‘culture of functionalism’.