RFQ SUBMISSION REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS CORNELL UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE EDUCATION CENTER + HOTEL CORNELL TECH CAMPUS, ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NEW YORK GILBERT DELGADO | UNIVERSITY ARCHITECT 125 Humphreys Service Building Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 June 1, 2015 LEESER ARCHITECTURE PLLC 20 Jay Street, Suite M03, Brooklyn, New York 11201 T: 718 643 6656 | [email protected] Contact Person: Ali Kriscenski 20 Jay Street, M03 Brooklyn, NY 11201 T: 718 643 6656 x11 email: [email protected] FIRM PROFILE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK and designers with a broad range of and a common mission to produce a Building, a hotel high-rise development SINCE 1989 knowledge and experience as well new educational hub in New York. in Brooklyn’s BAM Cultural District, as passion for innovation. Our strong as well as a 400 unit mixed-use In Brooklyn, the $40 million Strand focus on team resonates throughout residential complex adjacent to the LEESER Architecture is pleased to Theater renovation and expansion our network of consultants and in our Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO. present an introduction to our firm radically transforms the experience client relationships. and our work. We believe every of two separate client teams, BRIC Thomas Leeser has been an building or space has its very own We approach each client and project Arts | Media House and UrbanGlass. educator in the architecture field story to tell, a unique experience individually, capitalizing on the unique The new arts and education center since 1989. He has been an Adjunct that is discovered and created in opportunities of each to create iconic includes performance spaces, Assistant Professor at Columbia close collaboration with our clients. architecture that is relevant to its classrooms, a broadcast studio, University for nearly ten years and We are driven by a passion and users and the surrounding community. administrative offices, art galleries, is currently a Professor at Pratt commitment toward architecture Additionally, we hold our client and glass blowing facilities. Leeser Institute as well as an Adjunct as a vehicle for educational, relationships in the highest regard, and Architecture welcomed the unique Assistant Professor at Cornell social, cultural and technological find that the most successful projects challenge of designing a unified space University and Harvard University. engagement. result from strong collaboration within an existing building that meets Mr. Leeser has previously taught at between client, design team and the complex programmatic demands Princeton University, The Cooper During the past two decades, our firm consultant team. of two highly specific users. We Union, Parsons School of Design, believe that the product will have an Illinois Institute of Technology, and has achieved worldwide recognition In 2011, LEESER Architecture unprecedented impact on the BAM Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. for its influential, iconic designs. celebrated the opening of the $70 Cultural District. He has also extended himself in the Our approach draws on the broad million expansion and renovation of educational realm as an architectural experience and pioneering interests of New York’s Museum of the Moving International projects under critic, reviewing student projects our principal Thomas Leeser. Image. Named “the finest recent construction include a 2.7 million across the US and around the world. American example of radical design” square foot mixed use neighborhood His interest in challenging the His background as an educator has by the Wall Street Journal, the projected to be a leading retail and conventional notions of architecture brought a unique perspective to all of innovative design of the Museum entertainment hub in Bangkok, with the use of new technologies LEESER Architecture’s design. and radical design, integrated with provides the community with a space Thailand and a 100,000+ square foot the contemporary cultural, social, that “immerses you in a fantasy tri-climatic biosphere for the Royal LEESER Architecture specializes in and technological context creates world you usually get only when Family in Abu Dhabi, UAE. We are also museums, theaters, and innovative richly varied spatial experiences, the lights are turned off” (New York currently working on the design for commercial and cultural facilities. new programmatic relationships and Times). The almost entirely publicly the renovation of the Paley Center for beautifully simple organizations. funded project’s success was only Media in Manhattan, the renovation possible by the close partnership of offices and a broadcast facility LEESER Architecture is based in between the Museum of the Moving for the Mayor’s Office of Media and DUMBO, Brooklyn. We are a mid- Image’s staff and Leeser Architecture Entertainment in New York’s Municipal sized firm comprised of architects LEESER Architecture’s concept design for SILVERCUP WEST, a 2.2M sf mixed-use 1 FIRM PROFILE development in Long Island City PROJECT APPROACH LEESER Architecture is pleased to respond to the Request for Qualifications challenges and to propose solutions that are specific to their needs. We for the Executive Education Center + Hotel at the Cornell Tech Campus. bring to each project our extensive experience with the integration of new Our significant experience with complex and diverse programmatic demands technology in cultural and educational spaces. for iconic hotel and residences, education and institutional facilities, as well as mixed-use commercial projects positions us as ideal candidates to design HOSPITALITY HOUSE this exciting project. On Roosevelt Island, we see a tremendous opportunity to create exquisite hospitality experiences that elevate the overall attraction to Campus. LEESER Architecture will bring our experience and international reputation for In order to fully realize this potential, we will partner with Hospitality House, creating outstanding architectural designs. Unlike other architects we approach a boutique hospitality consulting firm who provides strategic counsel and each project and client individually, designing radical yet considered responses creative direction to global hotel brands, restaurant operators, hospitality to fulfill the project’s specific needs. focused private equity firms, and REITs. Our firm has a strong understanding of the Cornell Tech Campus and its mission The Cornell Tech Campus provides Hospitality House and LEESER to cultivate a community of tech innovators. We see the Executive Education Architecture the rare opportunity to strategically curate an urban Center and Hotel to be an opportunity to create a lasting first impression that environment for a diverse and intellectual population. In a society that has conveys the vitality of the Cornell Tech programs and a strong campus identity. become increasingly engrained in food and beverage culture, the Roosevelt Island Campus has the unique potential to be the archetype for how We understand that the project will encompass two phases: Feasibility restaurants can profoundly influence urban development, daily life, and Study/Concept Development Phase, followed by the Design Phase. We also technology. A community defined by intellectual curiosity is the ideal context understand that the outcome of Phase i will determine whether the Executive in which to explore these notions, and our joint teams plan to push the very Education Center and Hotel will be built in sequential construction phases or in boundaries of hospitality’s correlation to urbanism and technology. We seek parallel. to help foster an environment that not only possesses a strong element of hospitality, but inspires and provokes us to contemplate how hospitality We recognize that as a whole the new facility will provide space for offices, allows us to think about the 21st century society as a whole. classrooms, and programs, ~224 hotel rooms, dining, catering and event space, as well as the appropriate ‘back of house’ space and parking facilities. INVENTIVE ARCHITECTURE LEESER Architecture is known for highly creative designs that transform our Our approach will focus on: experience of place. Our approach at the Cornell Tech Campus will utilize Collaborative Process, Inventive Architecture + Sustainable Design insight from the Campus representatives and our primary design partner, Hospitality House, to create a distinctive design that captivates and inspires. COLLABORATIVE PROCESS The success of our projects is the result of a positive and well structured The work produced by by our firm is dramatic and powerful. We value collaboration between client, design team and consultant team. We collaborate inspired design and will not compromise when it comes to finding the best closely with our clients to identify the unique opportunities of their project, design solution possible. At the same time, the spaces we design, enhance enabling us to develop a deep understanding of their design and programmatic everyday interactions and are inherently flexible and efficient. LEESER 3 PROJECT APPROACH Architecture finds innovative ways to work with budget restrictions and other the Education Center and Hotel simple systems that will work with natural physical challenges without comprising the design objectives of the client and laws of physics to increase comfort, reduce energy consumption and architect. contribute back to the natural environment. As example, we redesigned and expanded the Museum of the Moving Image to Our staff and consultant team includes LEED accredited professionals that become