Steven Holl Architects has just completed a new 3,000-square-foot redesign for D. E. Shaw Research, an independent, computational biochemistry research laboratory in Manhattan, to accommodate a supercomputer designed “to execute high-speed simulations of proteins and other biological macromolecules.” This 32nd-floor lobby space, which connects to the floor above, allows people to catch a view of the supercomputer through its faceted glass enclosure. Monitors integrated into the glass allow visitors to observe—in real time—the motion of the simulated proteins, drugs, and other molecules that Shaw Research studies. Equally fascinating is the connecting stair, composed of perforated steel plates that in plan form an irregular hexagon. Steven Holl Architects reports that for inspiration, they studied soap bubbles “and the way they mysteriously nest in clusters that always take the same angle of hexagonal geometry at 120 degrees.” Digitally coordinated fabrication techniques allowed the planes of the staircase to be laser-cut directly from the architect’s drawings.
Photo © Andy Ryan.