Bell Works

Bell Labs
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Bell Works

Originally built between 1962 and 1964, Bell Works was designed to foster collaboration, with exterior hallways and an expansive atrium that encouraged people to get out of their offices and see/interact with fellow workers. Somerset Development is recreating Bell Labs with the same philosophy -- to bring together a wide variety of businesses and people that will commingle in an "urban-style" environment amidst suburbia, otherwise known as a “metroburb”

Credit

Somerset Development

Site overview

Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates from 1957–62 (with Anthony J. Lumsden as project architect), and built for the research division of AT&T on 472-acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, was commissioned to be an iconic symbol of progress and innovative technology endeavors. The rectilinear, symmetrical, and refined complex came out of the American corporate campus planning genre of the late 1950s and early 1960s, similar to projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Connecticut General Headquarters of 1956 and was appreciated by those who worked there as well as the architectural community. Its inventiveness as a place of exploration of new building materials, along with its scale, and the scope of its program literally and ideologically reflected the growing telecommunications industry. The building’s significance lay first in its new configuration of office and laboratory spaces, gleaned from Saarinen’s experiences at his inventive IBM Minnesota Laboratory (1958), the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan (1948–56), and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center for IBM in Yorktown Heights, New York (1956–61). In Holmdel, however, he focused on interior flexibility of office layouts, as well as the closely knit areas for the researchers that also included workplaces designed for increased privacy. Common spaces such as corridors and atria and extensive landscaping linked researchers in contemplative environments. Technological exploration of new materials such as mirrored glass, in tandem with new construction solutions enabled Saarinen to design concepts that contributed to a new aesthetic of high technology precision. (Adapted from The Bell Labs Charette: A Sustainable Future, published by Docomomo-US New York/Tri-State)

Bell Works

Spanning four atriums and two-million-square-feet, the massive former Bell Laboratories was once the home to some of the most monumental technologies of the 20th century. ,As Bell Labs HQ -- and later Lucent and Alcatel-Lucent -- a total of seven Nobel Prize winners worked in the building, conceiving theories for the laser, the Big Bang theory, cellular technology, the transistor, and more. Pictured here is the building’s first atrium, which is located closest to the main entrance of the building and home to the “conversation pit.”

Credit

Somerset Development

Site overview

Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates from 1957–62 (with Anthony J. Lumsden as project architect), and built for the research division of AT&T on 472-acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, was commissioned to be an iconic symbol of progress and innovative technology endeavors. The rectilinear, symmetrical, and refined complex came out of the American corporate campus planning genre of the late 1950s and early 1960s, similar to projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Connecticut General Headquarters of 1956 and was appreciated by those who worked there as well as the architectural community. Its inventiveness as a place of exploration of new building materials, along with its scale, and the scope of its program literally and ideologically reflected the growing telecommunications industry. The building’s significance lay first in its new configuration of office and laboratory spaces, gleaned from Saarinen’s experiences at his inventive IBM Minnesota Laboratory (1958), the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan (1948–56), and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center for IBM in Yorktown Heights, New York (1956–61). In Holmdel, however, he focused on interior flexibility of office layouts, as well as the closely knit areas for the researchers that also included workplaces designed for increased privacy. Common spaces such as corridors and atria and extensive landscaping linked researchers in contemplative environments. Technological exploration of new materials such as mirrored glass, in tandem with new construction solutions enabled Saarinen to design concepts that contributed to a new aesthetic of high technology precision. (Adapted from The Bell Labs Charette: A Sustainable Future, published by Docomomo-US New York/Tri-State)

Bell Works

A close-up of the “conversation pit”, located in the first atrium of Bell Works.

Credit

Connie Zhou Photography

Site overview

Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates from 1957–62 (with Anthony J. Lumsden as project architect), and built for the research division of AT&T on 472-acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, was commissioned to be an iconic symbol of progress and innovative technology endeavors. The rectilinear, symmetrical, and refined complex came out of the American corporate campus planning genre of the late 1950s and early 1960s, similar to projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Connecticut General Headquarters of 1956 and was appreciated by those who worked there as well as the architectural community. Its inventiveness as a place of exploration of new building materials, along with its scale, and the scope of its program literally and ideologically reflected the growing telecommunications industry. The building’s significance lay first in its new configuration of office and laboratory spaces, gleaned from Saarinen’s experiences at his inventive IBM Minnesota Laboratory (1958), the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan (1948–56), and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center for IBM in Yorktown Heights, New York (1956–61). In Holmdel, however, he focused on interior flexibility of office layouts, as well as the closely knit areas for the researchers that also included workplaces designed for increased privacy. Common spaces such as corridors and atria and extensive landscaping linked researchers in contemplative environments. Technological exploration of new materials such as mirrored glass, in tandem with new construction solutions enabled Saarinen to design concepts that contributed to a new aesthetic of high technology precision. (Adapted from The Bell Labs Charette: A Sustainable Future, published by Docomomo-US New York/Tri-State)

Bell Works

Just one of many collaborative spaces at Bell Works, the conversation pit sits on the ground floor at the formal center of the building, meant to spur interaction. A signature element of famed architect Eero Saarinen, it has been preserved identically down to the carpet, which displays Josef Albers’ “study in a square design”.

Credit

Connie Zhou Photography

Site overview

Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates from 1957–62 (with Anthony J. Lumsden as project architect), and built for the research division of AT&T on 472-acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, was commissioned to be an iconic symbol of progress and innovative technology endeavors. The rectilinear, symmetrical, and refined complex came out of the American corporate campus planning genre of the late 1950s and early 1960s, similar to projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Connecticut General Headquarters of 1956 and was appreciated by those who worked there as well as the architectural community. Its inventiveness as a place of exploration of new building materials, along with its scale, and the scope of its program literally and ideologically reflected the growing telecommunications industry. The building’s significance lay first in its new configuration of office and laboratory spaces, gleaned from Saarinen’s experiences at his inventive IBM Minnesota Laboratory (1958), the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan (1948–56), and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center for IBM in Yorktown Heights, New York (1956–61). In Holmdel, however, he focused on interior flexibility of office layouts, as well as the closely knit areas for the researchers that also included workplaces designed for increased privacy. Common spaces such as corridors and atria and extensive landscaping linked researchers in contemplative environments. Technological exploration of new materials such as mirrored glass, in tandem with new construction solutions enabled Saarinen to design concepts that contributed to a new aesthetic of high technology precision. (Adapted from The Bell Labs Charette: A Sustainable Future, published by Docomomo-US New York/Tri-State)

Bell Works

Once the largest single vacant commercial building in the United States, Bell Works was left abandoned until 2013 when Somerset Development officially acquired the property, realizing its potential to become a self-contained urban destination. Pictured here is the building’s second atrium prior to restoration.

Credit

Somerset Development

Site overview

Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates from 1957–62 (with Anthony J. Lumsden as project architect), and built for the research division of AT&T on 472-acres in Holmdel, New Jersey, was commissioned to be an iconic symbol of progress and innovative technology endeavors. The rectilinear, symmetrical, and refined complex came out of the American corporate campus planning genre of the late 1950s and early 1960s, similar to projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Connecticut General Headquarters of 1956 and was appreciated by those who worked there as well as the architectural community. Its inventiveness as a place of exploration of new building materials, along with its scale, and the scope of its program literally and ideologically reflected the growing telecommunications industry. The building’s significance lay first in its new configuration of office and laboratory spaces, gleaned from Saarinen’s experiences at his inventive IBM Minnesota Laboratory (1958), the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan (1948–56), and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center for IBM in Yorktown Heights, New York (1956–61). In Holmdel, however, he focused on interior flexibility of office layouts, as well as the closely knit areas for the researchers that also included workplaces designed for increased privacy. Common spaces such as corridors and atria and extensive landscaping linked researchers in contemplative environments. Technological exploration of new materials such as mirrored glass, in tandem with new construction solutions enabled Saarinen to design concepts that contributed to a new aesthetic of high technology precision. (Adapted from The Bell Labs Charette: A Sustainable Future, published by Docomomo-US New York/Tri-State)

Awards

Design

Award of Excellence

Commercial

The Commercial Design Award of Excellence is given for the restoration of the former Bell Laboratories, which has been transformed into Bell Works, the two-million-square-foot mixed-use “metroburb”, located in Holmdel, New Jersey. Designed by world-renowned modernist architect Eero Saarinen and constructed in stages between 1959-1982, the enormous mirrored glass-enclosed structure (the first of its kind) was home to Bell Laboratories, later known as AT&T, Lucent, and ultimately Alcatel-Lucent. Within its walls, researchers made a number of monumental discoveries, including the development of the cell phone and fiber optic technology. Rumblings of demolishing the site after Alcatel-Lucent vacated the building sparked concern from architects, historians, and design professionals around the globe. After acquiring the famed building in 2013, Somerset Development, along with Alexander Gorlin Architects - with the aid of public-private collaboration - began a multi-faceted approach of reviving and reinvigorating the space as a “dynamic, collaborative workplace of the future, complete with a blossoming ecosystem of technology, traditional office, retail, dining, and hospitality.”

“This is an adaptive reuse project on a grand scale. Instead of merely turning this into office space, Bell Works re-envisions this corporate headquarters building as a mixed use, self-contained town center incorporating retail and shopping and dining options, health and wellness uses, a hotel and conference center, educational facilities, an upscale spa and public facilities.” Nauman continues by pointing out, “social gathering areas were established, and the entire project was envisioned and completed with an eye toward sustainability, including a solar roof. This is an ambitious project that has reconfigured what was once the largest vacant commercial building in the country into a dynamic urban center.”

- Robert Nauman, Ph.D
Client

Somerset Development

Restoration Team
  • Paola Zamudio (Bell Works Creative Director/NPZ Style + Décor)
  • Alexander Gorlin Architects (Lead Architect)

How to Visit

Mixed use facility open to the public

Location

101 Crawfords Corner Road
Holmdel, NJ, 07733

Country

US
More visitation information
Credit:

Somerset Development

Credit:

Somerset Development

A close-up of the “conversation pit”, located in the first atrium of Bell Works.

Credit:

Connie Zhou Photography

Credit:

Connie Zhou Photography

Credit:

Somerset Development

Designer(s)

Related News

Related chapter

New York/Tri State

Commission

1957

Completion

1982