Built in 1968, the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC), at 1.7 million square feet, is the largest office campus in Florida. Marcel Breuer and Robert F. Gatje codesigned the buildings of BRiC for IBM, the campus’s first owner. In the 1980s, IBM developed, manufactured, and mass-produced its first personal computer at BRiC.
For his brutalist design, with a façade repeating the same geometric pattern, Breuer took inspiration from the beauty he found in the repetitions of mass production. Designed for Florida’s tropical climate, the building features heavy concrete shading canopies over its glass windows to provide cooling and protection from the sun. The design also provides protection against hurricane damage such as floods.
After purchasing BRiC in 2018, the building’s current owner, CP Group, has been transforming it from a mostly empty office building into a thriving tech campus. Added amenities include restaurants, art galleries, and coffee shops. CP Group also is in the process of rezoning from a light research and industrial park to a planned mobility development, which will expand BRiC to include office, retail, hospitality, and residential. Additionally, CP Group is pursuing a master plan to add retail, townhomes, and an amphitheater—turning the campus into a town center.
Architecture firm CallisonRTKL has used a phased strategy to provide flexibility around the existing tenants and day-to-day operations while pursuing a ground-up enhancement. CallisonRTKL’s work includes the following:
- Increasing the allowable floor area ratio from four to six and upping the maximum allowable development by 1,123,850 square feet
- Reducing the setbacks from 50 feet to 20 feet
- Standardizing office planning metrics
- Scaling the amenities, landscaping, and infrastructure in tandem with the development’s phases
On the Building Team:
Owner and developer: CP Group
Design architects: Marcel Breuer and Robert F. Gatje
Architect of record: CallisonRTKL
Structural engineer: Jezerinac Group
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Dec 1, 2022
Top 100 Office Building Core+Shell Contractors and CM Firms for 2022
Turner Construction, AECOM, Clayco, and Gilbane top the ranking of the nation's largest office building core+shell contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 1, 2022
Top 75 Office Building Core+Shell Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, Alfa Tech, Burns & McDonnell, and Arup head the ranking of the nation's largest office building core+shell engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 1, 2022
Top 150 Office Building Core+Shell Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
Gensler, NBBJ, Perkins and Will, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest office building core+shell architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Multifamily Housing | Nov 29, 2022
Number of office-to-apartment conversion projects has jumped since start of pandemic
As remote work rose and demand for office space declined since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, developers have found converting some offices to residential use to be an attractive option. Apartment conversions rose 25% in the two years since the start of the pandemic, with 28,000 new units converted from other property types, according to a report from RentCafe.
Giants 400 | Nov 28, 2022
Top 130 Office Sector Contractors and CM Firms for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Gilbane, and CBRE top the ranking of the nation's largest office sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 28, 2022
Top 85 Office Sector Engineering and EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, Alfa Tech, AECOM, and Burns & McDonnell head the ranking of the nation's largest office sector engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 28, 2022
Top 200 Office Sector Architecture and AE Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, Stantec, and HOK top the ranking of the nation's largest office sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Data Centers | Nov 28, 2022
Data centers are a hot market—don't waste the heat!
SmithGroup's Brian Rener shares a few ways to integrate data centers in mixed-use sites, utilizing waste heat to optimize the energy demands of the buildings.
BAS and Security | Oct 19, 2022
The biggest cybersecurity threats in commercial real estate, and how to mitigate them
Coleman Wolf, Senior Security Systems Consultant with global engineering firm ESD, outlines the top-three cybersecurity threats to commercial and institutional building owners and property managers, and offers advice on how to deter and defend against hackers.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 60 Medical Office Building Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
PCL Construction, Adolfson & Peterson, Swinerton, and Skanska USA top the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
