The Roux Institute at Northeastern University

The Roux Institute’s design offers infinite flexibility and adaptability to foster experiential learning and entrepreneurship within an existing 43,800-square-foot floorplate. The programming concept defines neighborhoods where learning occurs without clear boundaries, allowing the space to adapt to the unique needs of business partners, faculty, and students.

To execute the concept, the floor is treated as a field condition with defined objects located within it. Where walls don’t need to exist to define a boundary, complex geometric structures (geometric follies) bend and fold throughout the space. The follies are intentionally aberrant geometries designed to punctuate space. Canted from floor to ceiling, they meet at atypical angles and are clad in nontraditional materials. The intent is to blur the definition of boundary by utilizing forms and objects beyond the typical vocabulary of architecture.

Housed within an existing building situated on the edge of Casco Bay, the Institute enjoys uninterrupted ocean views and access to natural daylight. The transparency and porosity of the follies and arrangement of program elements allow the daylight to permeate deep within the floorplate. Proximity to Casco Bay inspired the natural material and saturated color palette, which contrasts the exposed steel structure, ductwork, and infrastructure.