Organization:Bell Labs Holmdel Complex

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Short description: Research facility in New Jersey
Bell Works
Bell Labs Holmdel.jpg
Aerial view
General information
Architectural styleMid-Century Modern
LocationHolmdel Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Address101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, New Jersey[1]
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 40°21′54″N 74°10′2″W / 40.365°N 74.16722°W / 40.365; -74.16722
Construction started1959[2]
Completed1962[3]
OwnerSomerset Development d/b/a Bell Works
Technical details
Floor count6
Floor area2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2)[4]
Grounds472.69 acres (1.9129 km2)[5]
Design and construction
ArchitectEero Saarinen[6]
Other designersSasaki, Walker & Associates[7]
Awards and prizes1967 Laboratory of the year
Website
www.bell.works
Bell Laboratories-Holmdel
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
NRHP reference #16000223[8]
NJRHP #4771[9]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 26, 2017
Designated NJRHPMarch 8, 2016

The Bell Labs Holmdel Complex, in Holmdel Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, functioned for 44 years as a research and development facility, initially for the Bell System and later Bell Labs.[3] The centerpiece of the campus is an Eero Saarinen–designed structure that served as the home to over 6,000 engineers and researchers.[4] This modernist building, dubbed "The Biggest Mirror Ever" by Architectural Forum, due to its mirror box exterior, was the site of a Nobel Prize discovery, the laser cooling work of Steven Chu.[1][10]

The building has undergone renovations into a multi-purpose living and working space, dubbed Bell Works by its redevelopers. Since 2013 it has been operated by Somerset Development, who redeveloped the building into a mixed-use office for high-tech startup companies.[11] The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.[9]

History

Before the present building, the site was used by Bell Telephone Laboratories for research. Karl Guthe Jansky invented radio astronomy there, and a monument was placed at the former location ( [ ⚑ ] 40°21′54.5″N 74°09′48.9″W / 40.365139°N 74.163583°W / 40.365139; -74.163583) of the antenna almost seventy years later in 1998. The monument is a stylized sculpture of the antenna and is oriented as Jansky's antenna was at 7:10 p.m. on September 16, 1932, at a moment of maximum signal caused by alignment with the center of our galaxy in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.[12][13]

In 1957, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) began to plan a research laboratory in Holmdel Township in Central New Jersey.[7] Constructed between 1959 and 1962, this complex was one of the final projects of Finland -American architect Eero Saarinen before his death in 1961.[6] Used as a research and development complex, it served the needs of the Bell Laboratories division of AT&T, later part of Lucent, and Alcatel-Lucent.[7] Basic research, applied hardware development, and software development occurred in the building.

The building's distinctive features, including its mirror-like appearance, led to recognition as the Laboratory of the Year by R&D in 1967.[14]

The building was expanded in 1966 and 1982 to its final size of two million square feet of office and laboratory space.[15] Despite these expansions, the original curtain wall design remained intact, as did the unique layout of the site, which included a large elliptical master plan and country-road like approach. Over its active life-span, the facility and its layout were studied in universities as models of modernist architecture.[16] Internally, the building is divided into four pavilions of labs and offices, each separated from the others by a cross-shaped atrium. The internal pavilions are linked via sky-bridges and perimeter walkway.[7]

Also of note is the water tower on the complex. The three-legged design reminded people of a transistor-- a major achievement of Bell Labs (in 1947 at a different location). Despite a total lack of historical evidence, an urban legend claims that the designer actually intended to memorialize the transistor.[17] Another urban legend-- less widely circulated than the transistor story-- claims that the concrete floodlight stand at the base of the tower was originally a water fountain.[18] The tower is still in usable condition more than 40 years after its construction.[19]

In 2006, Alcatel-Lucent contracted to sell the facility to Preferred Real Estate Investments in the process of restructuring the company's research efforts.[4] Despite initial plans to maintain the original buildings and keep the complex as a corporate office park, economic developments later resulted in Preferred seeking to re-zone as residential property.[15][20][21][22]

As a result, the complex was added to The Cultural Landscape Foundation's list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey in May 2007.[1] Action led to the creation of a citizen's group, Preserving Holmdel, by former Bell employees, to lobby for keeping the complex as it was when in use as a laboratory.[23] Working with the community, ideas for changes such as a university center or recreational complex, in portions of the former facility are under consideration.[24]

The Preferred transaction did not close, and in May 2012 Holmdel Township declared the site as an "Area in Need of Redevelopment".[25] A Redevelopment Plan was adopted for the property that included various adaptive reuses of the main building and the construction of up to 40 single family homes and 185 age-restricted townhouses outside the main ring road surrounding the building.[26] The Redevelopment Plan is available on the Township's website.[25] The complex is currently under contract to Somerset Development LLC.[27] Somerset has provided concept plans for the redevelopment of the complex in accordance with the Redevelopment Plan and is in discussions with Township officials concerning the details of those plans.[28]

In September 2013, it was announced that the property was purchased by Somerset Development Corp for $27 million for a redevelopment project planned to include a health and wellness center, skilled nursing facility and assisted living center, a hotel, restaurants and shopping, spa, office spaces and a 20,000-square-foot public library. Recreational space and luxury homes were planned for the surrounding land. Toll Brothers was slated to be the residential developer the project. Several office tenants have moved into the Bell Works building, and there is a cafe now open in the main lobby.[29] In November 2016, Nokia completed its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.

Architect Alexander Gorlin designed the 2018-2019 renovation[30] which includes opening up the laboratory spaces to the atrium light by replacing Saarinen's metal panels with glass. He also redesigned the two mammoth 1,000 x 100 ft atria floors. Skylights were replaced with transparent photovoltaic panels, and a hotel is planned for the roof.

In July 2016 iCIMS announced plans to move their headquarters to the facility to become the anchor tenant.[31] They moved in on November 27, 2017.

In April 2017 Guardian Life Insurance Company announced plans to move several hundred employees to the facility.[32]

The exterior and some interior shots of the facility serve as the fictional headquarters of Lumon Industries, where the main characters of the 2022 Apple TV+ show Severance are employed.[33]

Gallery

  • The main building, 2016

  • The "Transistor" water tower, 2016

  • Aerial view of AT&T Holmdel site

  • Bell Labs Holmdel, NJ April 2010 Lawrence Aberle

  • Bell Labs Holmdel, NJ2 April 2010 Lawrence Aberle

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Emrich, Ron (August 2008). "Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. http://www.tclf.org/landslide/Bell_Labs/index.htm. 
  2. ↑ "Big Research Unit Started". NYT. 1959-08-27. https://www.nytimes.com/1959/08/27/archives/big-research-unit-started.html. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ganapati, Priya (2008-08-28). "Once Mighty Bell Labs Leaves Behind Transistor, Laser, 6 Nobels". Wired (CondéNet). https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/08/gallery_bell_labs. Retrieved 2008-09-27. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Martin, Antoinette (2006-06-14). "Pastoral Site of Historic Inventions Faces the End". NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/realestate/commercial/14bell.html?_r=1&n=Top/News/Business/Small%20Business/Innovation&oref=slogin. 
  5. ↑ http://www.holmdeltownship-nj.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/340 BellWorks_Redevelopment Plan - link triggers PDF download
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "EERO SAARINEN, 51, ARCHITECT, IS DEAD; Versatile Designer Created Terminal for T.W.A. Here and Embassies for U.S. DISCIPLE OF HIS FATHER Received Many Awards-Worked With Mielziner on Lincoln Center Theater". NYT. 1961-09-02. https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0914FC39581B7A93C0A91782D85F458685F9. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Dunlap, David (2008-03-02). "The Office as Architectural Touchstone". NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02Rlandmark.html?ref=nyregionspecial2&pagewanted=all. 
  8. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Monmouth County". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. February 12, 2018. p. 6. http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/Monmouth.pdf. 
  10. ↑ Rensberger, Boyce (1972-02-20). "Where Science Grows Miracles". NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/20/archives/where-science-grows-miracles.html. 
  11. ↑ De Poto, Tom (September 16, 2013). "Bell Labs site's new owner outlines plans for next 'experiment' in Holmdel". North Jersey Media Group. https://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/bell_labs_sites_new_owner_outl.html. 
  12. ↑ Karl Jansky Radio Astronomy Monument
  13. ↑ "Detective Work Leads to Monument Honoring the Father of Radio Astronomy". Bell Labs. June 3, 1998. http://www.bell-labs.com/news/1998/june/4/2.html. 
  14. ↑ Higginbotham, Julie (1998-05-01). "Bell Laboratories Holmdel Complex. (1967 Laboratory of the Year)". R&D. HighBeam Research. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-21202521.html. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Thompson, Sametta (2008-09-15). "Bell Labs site's future". APP.com. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080915/NEWS01/809150322/1004. 
  16. ↑ Shearn, Tim (2008-08-03). "Abandoned Bell Labs could make history again". NJ.com. The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/abandoned_bell_labs_could_make.html. 
  17. ↑ "World's Largest Transistor, Holmdel, New Jersey" (in en). https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8180. 
  18. ↑ Personal story told by a Bell Works concierge.
  19. ↑ "World's Largest Transistor". RoadsideAmerica.com. April 2008. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8180. 
  20. ↑ Caiazza, Tom (2006-09-06). "Bell Labs portion will be preserved in Holmdel". The Independent. http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2006/0906/Front_page/001.html. 
  21. ↑ "Former Bells Labs Site". Preferred Unlimited. 2007. http://www.opennewworlds.com/index2.html. 
  22. ↑ Block, Ryan (2006-09-01). "Holmdel Bell Labs facility update: it stays!". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/holmdel-bell-labs-facility-update-it-stays/. 
  23. ↑ Beaumont, Leland (2007). "Preserving Holmdel: the future of the Bell Labs facility in Holmdel". PreservingHolmdel. http://www.simplyquality.org/ho/. 
  24. ↑ Martin, Antoinette (2008-05-04). "Ideas for Bell Labs' Future". NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/realestate/04njzo.html. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP :: WELCOME". http://www.holmdeltownship-nj.com. 
  26. ↑ "Alcatel-Lucent Redevelopment Plan OK'd By Holmdel Township Committee". http://holmdel-hazlet.patch.com/articles/alcatel-lucent-redevelopment-plan-ok-d-by-holmdel-township-committee. 
  27. ↑ "Somerset Development Signs Contract for Alcatel-Lucent Property". http://middletown-nj.patch.com/articles/somerset-development-signs-contract-for-alcatel-lucent-property-c0d8dcdd. 
  28. ↑ "Holmdel Committee Sends Lucent Plans Back to Developer". 16 January 2013. http://holmdel-hazlet.patch.com/articles/holmdel-committee-sends-lucent-plans-back-to-developer. 
  29. ↑ Scott Klocksin (July 22, 2015). "Revitalizing NJ: Somerset's 2M SF Bell Works Redevelopment". https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news/mixed-use/revitalizing-nj-somersets-2m-sf-bell-works-redevelopment--48289. 
  30. ↑ "Bell Works by Alexander Gorlin Architects". Architectural Record. February 2020. https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14447-bell-works-by-alexander-gorlin-architects. 
  31. ↑ "iCIMS Plans Move to Landmark Bell Works Building, Commits to Continued Growth in NJ". iCIMS Company Site (Press release). July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  32. ↑ Dhir, Rajeev (April 10, 2017). "Hundreds of new workers to move into historic Bell Labs building, report says". The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2017/04/nyc-based_insurance_company_reportedly_signs_lease.html. 
  33. ↑ Hoffman, Lauren (April 13, 2021). "Apple TV+ Television Series Severance Filming In New Jersey" (in en). https://wrat.com/2021/04/13/apple-tv-television-series-severance-filming-in-new-jersey/. 




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