Recognition of the power of physical spaces forms the cornerstone of Polytechnic Institute of NYU’s i2e Campus Transformation, a project to rebuild and renovate parts of the downtown Brooklyn campus – from creating flexible classrooms designed for better collaboration and laboratories designed to stimulate research to common areas that facilitate spontaneous brainstorming and entrances that simply look stunning. The campus transformation is key to helping NYU-Poly reach its academic objectives of attracting top-level faculty and high-achieving students, thereby firmly establishing the Institute as a world-class center of applied science, technology and engineering.

NYU-Poly is leading in invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship (or “i2e”) by arming faculty and students with the tools, resources, and inspiration to turn their research applications, products, and services that take flight as faculty- and student-owned companies. The campus transformation efforts embrace the tenets of i2e, planning and designing spaces that both support and advance them.

A nearly year-long assessment of the NYU-Poly facilities conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of expert engineering and architecture firms in 2010 illuminated a number of challenges and opportunities. Existing NYU-Poly facilities would require a significant investment to refurbish in line with contemporary standards and, even so, would not create space for future growth. As a first step, reflecting the priorities of the academic plan and the realities of existing facilities, a capital plan was developed, which was endorsed by the Steering and Space committees and the Board of Trustees in October 2010.

Driven by the academic objectives and the right-sizing of the university, the capital plan has coalesced around four core strategies that address the limitations of the current facilities and factor in the requirements for future growth:

1. Renovation of Rogers Hall to accommodate laboratories for new faculty hires
2. Expansion into MetroTech Center
3. Preparation of the Jacobs Administration and Civil Engineering building site for academic redevelopment
4. Investment in existing assets on an ongoing basis.