Stevens Institute

Client: Stevens Institute
Location: Hoboken, NJ

Located in Hoboken, New Jersey, Stevens Institute of Technology is just across the river from mid-town Manhattan. The Student Service Center is situated along the Hudson River facing the New York City skyline. While the original design turned it’s back to the stunning views, our designs embraced the skyline views across the river.

Stevens’ objective was to build a new student center that could house the financial aid, bursar and registration offices in one combined space. Stevens wanted a student center that made a statement to incoming students, was warm and inviting and stated the Institute’s aggressive movement towards technology.

The centerpiece of the entire project is the massive curved central desk which occupies much of the 2,400 square foot center. The desk is fabricated of quarter-sliced, fiddleback Anigre and features brushed stainless steel rails, solid surface high pressure decorative laminate tops, and aluminum “fins”. Echoing the desk in appearance is the distinctive entry wall made of fiddleback Anigre, aluminum panels and featured metal shelves and wood counters.

The original entry wall contained a series of glass inserts, aged wood mullions and solid doors which closed off and confined the students in the main corridor. The new wall conveys a feeling of space and transparency, drawing your movement in and emphasizing the views of the river via continuous sheets of glass.

Stevens Institute of Technology came to MMA when others said it was impossible. The combining of three services areas; financial aid, bursar and registrar offices was the goal of Stevens to make things easier for the students. The solution was to construct a unified student center. Incorporating the functions of three service areas provided its own set of technology management  problems; development of an aesthetically tasteful space for both students and staff which was not only functional but technologically advanced while creating a welcoming, comforting environment.

MMA’s selection of materials embodied the nature of a technological institute and created a centerpiece for a space that had lacked a sense of hierarchy and included the high standards of quality and functionality.

The former Senior Facility Manager (Eric Rosenberg) commented “Your design effectively utilized space that other firms said could not be done, in a way that brought to life our vision”