Cornell University
ILR School Offices &
NYC Conference Center

In the historic Art Deco General Electric Building, a new home for the New York City outreach program of Cornell University's ILR School (School of Industrial and Labor Relations) straddles two floors with a communicating stair. The offices and classrooms serve as a central hub for Cornell's social science–oriented programs in Manhattan, and present a vibrant, branded environment that promotes ILR's impact on the future of workplace and establishes the school's position as a leading authority on the world of work. Prior to the interior fit-out, FXCollaborative provided workplace strategy, visioning, programming, and site selection studies.

Mindful of the school's diverse pluralities, social and shared areas emphasize a message of community and knowledge sharing. Administrative and educational staff work in open, daylit workstations, with private offices and collaboration rooms for confidential and focused work. A broad variety of reservable classroom sizes, pre-function area, and café dining hub offer flexibility for the continuous programming of executive education, social science, and outreach programs. Cornell's signature red is interpreted throughout the interiors and branded wall graphics. Blackened steel plate columns and rivets are exposed to pay homage to the building's industrial history and the school's focus on industrial labor. Hexagonal, patterned concrete tiles, terracotta-inspired pink accents, slate wall covering, and wood panels relay a connection to the human scale of both hand-made and machine-crafted processes. Ultimately, the project combines Cornell's Ithaca roots and the multi-faceted and often divergent discourse that fuels the ILR mission.