flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

IBM’s former office buildings in Boca Raton turn into a modern tech campus

IBM’s former office buildings in Boca Raton turn into a modern tech campus

After sitting mostly empty, the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC) is on its way to becoming a town center with retail and housing.


By Novid Parsi, Contributing Editor | August 17, 2022
BRiC ext 1
Courtesy CP Group.

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

BRiC ext 2
Courtesy CP Group.
BRiC ext 3
Courtesy CP Group.
BRiC ext 4
Courtesy CP Group.
BRiC ext 5
Courtesy CP Group.
Lakeside Patio
Courtesy CP Group.
Lakeside Patio ext 2
Courtesy CP Group.
Rocket ext
Courtesy CP Group.
Rocket ext 2
Courtesy CP Group.

 

Related Stories

| Mar 25, 2014

World's tallest towers: Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill discuss designing Burj Khalifa, Kingdom Tower

The design duo discusses the founding of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects and the design of the next world's tallest, Kingdom Tower, which will top the Burj Khalifa by as much as a kilometer.

| Mar 24, 2014

Frank Lloyd Wright's S.C. Johnson Research Tower to open to the public—32 years after closing

The 14-story tower, one of only two Wright-designed high-rises to be built, has been off limits to the public since its construction in 1950.

| Mar 21, 2014

Forget wood skyscrapers - Check out these stunning bamboo high-rise concepts [slideshow]

The Singapore Bamboo Skyscraper competition invited design teams to explore the possibilities of using bamboo as the dominant material in a high-rise project for the Singapore skyline. 

| Mar 20, 2014

Common EIFS failures, and how to prevent them

Poor workmanship, impact damage, building movement, and incompatible or unsound substrate are among the major culprits of EIFS problems. 

| Mar 20, 2014

D.C. breaks ground on $2B mega waterfront development [slideshow]

When complete, the Wharf will feature approximately 3 million sf of new residential, office, hotel, retail, cultural, and public uses, including waterfront parks, promenades, piers, and docks.

| Mar 17, 2014

Rem Koolhaas explains China's plans for its 'ghost cities'

China's goal, according to Koolhaas, is to de-incentivize migration into already overcrowded cities. 

| Mar 13, 2014

Austria's tallest tower shimmers with striking 'folded façade' [slideshow]

The 58-story DC Tower 1 is the first of two high-rises designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture for Vienna's skyline.

| Mar 12, 2014

London grows up: 236 tall buildings to be added to skyline in coming decade, says think tank

The vast majority of high-rise projects in the works are residential towers, which could help tackle the city's housing crisis, according to a new report by New London Architecture.

| Mar 12, 2014

14 new ideas for doors and door hardware

From a high-tech classroom lockdown system to an impact-resistant wide-stile door line, BD+C editors present a collection of door and door hardware innovations. 

| Feb 27, 2014

Open or private offices? It depends on the business plan

Open layouts are grabbing headlines as a hallmark of the new workplace—think the Google campus or Facebook's headquarters. And for smaller-scale operations, open designs are often lauded for being less expensive than private office plans. But does that mean all offices should have an open layout?

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.


MFPRO+ News

San Francisco unveils guidelines to streamline office-to-residential conversions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced a series of new building code guidelines clarifying adaptive reuse code provisions and exceptions for converting office-to-residential buildings. Developed in response to the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse program established in July 2023, the guidelines aim to increase the viability of converting underutilized office buildings into housing by reducing regulatory barriers in specific zoning districts downtown. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021