ICON Architecture

The UML Innovation Hub + M2D2 Labs occupy the top two floors of the historic Freudenburg Building in the Hamilton Canal District. As part of ICON’s ongoing work in the District (award-winning Master Plan and Appleton Mills adaptive reuse), we restored the exterior of the existing building and developed the UML spaces. The UML project focuses on creating varied and technologically-rich environments for collaboration and to provide labs for biomedical startups. The project is organized to create a series of zones or “neighborhoods” with varying furnishings and acoustics (noisy, quiet, semi-public, and semi-private). The “noisy neighborhoods” are near the entrances, food, and toilet rooms. They have a mix of movable tables and chairs that can be stored to create large function rooms – on the third floor, the large conference room has folding glass walls that, when open, create a reception and presentation space. The “quiet neighborhoods” are located on the opposite sides of the floor plan (with minimal pass-through circulation). The third floor includes an acoustically and environmentally separated “maker space”.

If you are interested in learning more about academic incubators, please contact Ned Collier, Education Studio Principal.