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The primary volume is clad in white oak panels that are shaped to create a vertical raked pattern, enclosing an entry foyer, a powder room, and a guest bath, along with other utility spaces, including a wet bar concealed by a custom door assembly. Spaces within this central volume feature dark materials and minimal, taut details, in contrast to the volume’s exterior, such as the black stained white oak panels and marble interior utilized in the entry foyer. The second volume, long and horizontal, contains the kitchen finished in white materials and marble. While it is clad in paneling made from the same white oak species as the central volume, it is detailed with solid oak battens that create a different texture and rhythm.

While the two volumes contain material similarities, the subtle differentiation in the oak paneling, and the unique materials used for disparate programmatic elements, divide them according to distinct identities. Says co-principal Max Worrell, “This apartment is so much about the views, so we clustered the program elements into two separate volumes to free up the perimeter. The two wood volumes that define the space are essentially fraternal twins made from the same material yet different in scale and texture.”

The volumes also provide contrast to the open, view-soaked perimeter. “We wanted the entry foyer to be very dark and intimate, so that it would create a moment of pause before the burst of daylight and stunning views of Manhattan,” says Worrell. The perimeter walls throughout the loft are white, intentionally stark against the dark window frames that help reduce glare, while framing the spectacular views. Oversized pocket doors conceal two private bedroom suites and provide more intimate spaces through the use of wood floors and stone.

Stone in particular strikes a cool, grounding counterpoint to the oak and sunlight, such as in the form of the concrete terrazzo floor and monolithic terrazzo kitchen island in front of the second volume. “We found opportunities to carve or sculpt with stone”, says co-principal Jejon Yeung, alluding to its tactile qualities, “[including] the red marble powder sink, the stepped black Nero Marquina bench in the foyer, and the large kitchen island that is of the same gray terrazzo as the floor, adding moments of rich contrast.”

The concrete ceiling and structure of the historical warehouse are exposed and expressed throughout to highlight the rawness and texture of the building, juxtaposed against the warmer materials, and pure minimal lines of the new elements. Says Yeung, “This building is one of the first reinforced concrete buildings, and was even the tallest of its kind at the time, so we wanted to expose and highlight the concrete texture of the beams and columns, and complement and contrast with finer and richer materials.”

Project Information:

Architect : Worrell Yeung
MEP : Engineering Solutions
Lighting Designer : Lighting Workshop
Contractor : Metropolitan Innovations
Size : 3,200 square feet
Completed : October 2018
Photography : Alan Tansey, Naho Kubota

Material/Product Information:

• White Oak Paneling
• 8” Wide White Oak Engineering Flooring
• Tectura Terrazzo Cement Tile/Slabs
• Nero Marquina Bench/Countertop
• White Lilac Marble Backsplash / Wainscotting
• Blue de Savoie Marble
• Rosso Lepanto Marble Sink
• Waterworks Flyte Fixtures
• Ex-T Stand Bath Tub
• Rich Brilliant Willing Queue Light Fixture
• Rich Brilliant Willing Hoist Sconce Light Fixture
• Rich Brilliant Willing Brim Sconce Light Fixture
• Allied Maker Mini-Orb Pendant and Sconce

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The 10,000ft2 learning universe for children aged three to nine is located in WeWork’s HQ in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The school environment is designed to embed the values of a new conscious approach to education. The opening of WeGrow happens just as BIG completes Glasir College merging three individual schools in Faroe Islands, and plans for the opening of the Isenberg School of Management extension at the University of Massachusetts next Spring 2019.

“WeGrow was created to unleash the creative potential of all generations through design. With this first location in New York City, we have created a space to facilitate and accommodate WeGrow’s transformative approach to learning because as life evolves, so should the framework in which we live in. Children realize they have agency and when design is less prescriptive and more intuitive – we don’t have to tell kids how to use the space and every interpretation of how they use the space is good.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner & Creative Director, BIG; Chief Architect, WeWork.

WeGrow is designed for learning to be a transformational and holistic experience. A field of super-elliptic objects with a variety of functions allow children to move freely throughout the day and to learn from the environment around them and each other. The learning landscape encourages collaboration by emphasizing transparent and communal spaces, which comprise more than half of the school: four classrooms, flexible workshops, community space, multi-purpose studio, art studio, music room and other playscapes support the energy of creation and togetherness.

“WeGrow is committed to elevating the world’s collective consciousness. We believe we are all students of life for life, and that the very purpose of life is to be in a constant state of personal growth. Through a curriculum that focuses equally on mind, body and soul, we help students identify their superpowers and discover how to use them to help others.” Rebekah Neumann, Founder & CEO, WeGrow; Founding Partner & Chief Brand Officer, WeWork.

Most of the partitions inside the school are shelves raised to the level of the child, allowing natural light to reach deep inside the building. Three different shelving levels for each age group curve occasionally to create various activity pockets and give a feeling of comfort, safety and community, while allowing teachers to have full perspective of the space at all times. Above, acoustic clouds made of felt reflect the different patterns in nature – fingerprint, coral, landscape and moon – and illuminate with Ketra bulbs that shift in color and intensity based on the time of day.

Each learning station within WeGrow includes furniture with details and materials carefully designed by BIG to optimize the educational environment: modular classrooms promote movement and collaboration, puzzle tables and chairs manufactured by Bednark Studio come in kid and parent sizes to offer equal perspectives, and the vertical garden with tiles made in Switzerland by Laufen are pockets to lavender, sweet violets, chocolate mint and others depending on shade exposure.

Nature’s qualities are often borrowed throughout WeGrow to create a calm setting for a more focused study: the mushroom shelves, magic meadow with soft pebbles and reading hives that form an immersive library shape an organic learning environment.

Teachers and parents share the lobby with the children, where a playful felt nook forms from the smooth cut out in the walls to serve as a flexible work, meet and waiting area. Children can join in the brain puzzle, an all-felt lounge that can be taken apart for playing and learning. From the lobby to the classrooms, WeGrow is lit by Gople Lamp and Alphabet of Light – flexible lighting systems designed by BIG Ideas and manufactured by Artemide to create ambience effects that form comfortable, natural lighting throughout the school day.

Playful and transparent, yet homelike and structured, WeGrow nurtures the child’s education through introspection, exploration and discovery.

FACTS

CLIENT: WeWork

COLLABORATORS: WeWork, Environetics Group Inc., Cosentini Associates, William Vitacco Associates Ltd., Digifabshop, Bednark Studio, LAUFEN, Ketra, Febrik

LOCATION: New York, USA

SIZE: 10,000ft² / 930m²

BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Daniel Sundlin, Beat Schenk
Project Leader: Otilia Pupezeanu
Project Architect: Jeremy Babel

Team: Bart Ramakers, Douglass Alligood, Erik Berg Kreider, Evan Saarinen, Fabian Lorenz, Filip Milovanovic, Florencia Kratsman, Francesca Portesine, Il Hwan Kim, Jakob Lange, Ji Young Yoon, Kristoffer Negendahl, Josiah Poland, Megan Ng, Mengzhu Jiang, Ryan Yang, Stephen Kwok, Terrence Chew, Tore Banke, Tracy Sodder

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