Bell Labs Holmdel Complex
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Bell Labs Holmdel Complex
| Bell Labs Holmdel | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view |
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| General information | |
| Type | Research lab |
| Location | Holmdel Township, New Jersey |
| Address | 101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, New Jersey[1] |
| Coordinates | 40°21′54″N 74°10′02″W / 40.36498°N 74.16730°WCoordinates: 40°21′54″N 74°10′02″W / 40.36498°N 74.16730°W |
| Construction started | 1959[2] |
| Completed | 1962[3] |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 6 |
| Floor area | 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2)[4] |
| Design and construction | |
| Owner | Somerset Development in contract with Lucent |
| Architect | Eero Saarinen[5] |
| Other designers | Sasaki, Walker & Associates[6] |
| Awards and prizes | 1967 Laboratory of the year |
The Bell Labs Holmdel Complex functioned for forty-four years as a research and development facility, initially for the Bell System.[3] The centerpiece of the 472-acre (1.91 km2) 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 at least one Nobel Prize discovery,[1][7] the laser cooling work of Steven Chu.
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Contents
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History
Before the present building, the site was used by Bell Telephone Laboratories for research, most notably Karl Guthe Jansky invented radio astronomy there. A monument was placed at the former location (40°21′54″N 74°9′48″W / 40.365°N 74.16333°W) 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.[8][9]
In 1957 the Bell Telephone Company began to plan a research laboratory in Holmdel Township, New Jersey[6] Constructed between 1959 and 1962, this complex was one of the final projects of Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen before his death in 1961.[5] Used as a research and development complex, it served the needs of the Bell Laboratories division of Bell Telephone, later known as AT&T, Lucent, and Alcatel-Lucent.[6]. Basic research, applied hardware development, and software development ocured 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.[10]
The building was subsequently expanded in 1966 and 1982 to its final size of two million square feet of office and laboratory space.[11] 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 was studied in universities as a model of modernist architecture.[12] Internally, the building is divided into four pavilions of labs and offices, each around an atrium. The internal pavilions are linked via sky-bridges and perimeter walkway.[6]
Also of note is the water tower on the complex, which was designed to look like the then-new transistor and is still in usable condition more than 40 years after its construction.[13]
Post Alcatel-Lucent
In 2006, Alcatel-Lucent sold 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-zoning as residential property.[11][14][15][16] 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] Additionally 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.[17] Working with the community, ideas for changes such as a university center or recreational complex, in portions of the former facility are under consideration.[18]
Gallery
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex |
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In the early 1930s, before the present building, Karl Guthe Jansky discovered extraterrestrial radio waves using this antenna on the site.
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Main building
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"Transistor" water tower on the main access road
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Aerial view of AT&T Holmdel site
References
- ^ a b c Emrich, Ron (2008-08). "Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. http://www.tclf.org/landslide/Bell_Labs/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ "Big Research Unit Started". NYT. 1959-08-27. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50613F93958137B93C5AB1783D85F4D8585F9. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ a b Ganapati, Priya (2008-08-28). "Once Mighty Bell Labs Leaves Behind Transistor, Laser, 6 Nobels". Wired. CondéNet. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/08/gallery_bell_labs. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ a b c Martin, Antoinette (2006-06-14). "Pastoral Site of Historic Inventions Faces the End". NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/realestate/commercial/14bell.html?_r=1&n=Top/News/Business/Small%20Business/Innovation&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ a b "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 Theatre". NYT. 1961-09-02. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0914FC39581B7A93C0A91782D85F458685F9. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ a b c d Dunlap, David (2008-03-02). "The Office as Architectural Touchstone". NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02Rlandmark.html?ref=nyregionspecial2&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Rensberger, Boyce (1972-02-20). "Where Science Grows Miracles". NYT. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10816FD3F591A7493C2AB1789D85F468785F9. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Karl Jansky Radio Astronomy Monument
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ a b 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. Retrieved 2008-09-27.[dead link]
- ^ 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. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ "World's Largest Transistor". RoadsideAmerica.com. 2008-04. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8180. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ 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. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ "Former Bells Labs Site". Preferred Unlimited. 2007. http://www.opennewworlds.com/index2.html. Retrieved 2008-09-27.[dead link]
- ^ Block, Ryan (2006-09-01). "Holmdel Bell Labs facility update: it stays!". Engadget. http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/holmdel-bell-labs-facility-update-it-stays/. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Beaumont, Leland (2007). "Preserving Holmdel: the future of the Bell Labs facility in Holmdel". PreservingHolmdel. http://www.simplyquality.org/ho/. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Martin, Antoinette (2008-05-04). "Ideas for Bell Labs’ Future". NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/realestate/04njzo.html. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
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