New looks for the Taystee Lab Building, a life science campus opening in Harlem
All renderings courtesy of Janus Property Company
As the construction of New York City’s newest life science building nears completion, we’re getting a fresh look at the innovative structure. Developed by the Janus Property Company, the 11-story Taystee Lab Building is part of the Manhattanville Factory District, a West Harlem neighborhood once full of breweries and factories that is now being transformed into a modern commercial and office hub. The 350,000-square-foot Taystee Lab Building, named after the bread bakery that once occupied the site, will provide mixed-use space for life science, academic, and creative tenants.
After the Taystee Bakery closed in the late 1970s, the building, located on West 125th and 126th Streets between Morningside and Amsterdam Avenues, sat vacant for years. In 2010, the city’s Economic Development Corporation issued requests for proposals to redevelop the bakery, and later the agency selected Janus Property Company as the developer. In 2012, the city sold the property to the group for $34.3 million.
The project broke ground in the spring of 2019, topped out in January 2020, and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Designed by LevenBetts Architects and SLCE Architects, the ground-up building blends contemporary design with an industrial aesthetic, a nod to the neighborhood’s past. The “technologically enabled space,” as the developer describes it, will boast flexible and efficient floor plates, 14-foot ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling glass.
The development will also feature 20,000 square feet of outdoor space, which includes private garden-level terraces and a landscaped courtyard. Terrain Work has been tapped as the landscape architect for the project.
As the largest building, the Taystee Lab will serve as the anchor of the Janus Property Company’s master-planned Factory District, which stretches from West 125th Street to West 128th Street and sits next to Columbia University’s new Manhattanville campus and CUNY’s City College.
In addition to the Taystee building, the District includes the Malt House, the Mink Building, and the Sweets Building, home to Harlem Biospace. A series of landscaped walkways and plazas connect the buildings while providing space for gathering and outdoor events.
RELATED:
- Life science campus to open at former West Harlem bakery site, adding to the Factory District’s revival
- Columbia’s Manhattanville campus will get a new food hall next year
- Renzo Piano unveils his third and final building at Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus
All renderings courtesy of The Janus Property Company