Ennead Architects has unveiled plans for a global hub for life science, tech and medicine in Jersey City. 

Called The Cove, the new complex will offer an unrivalled ecosystem for discovery that will become the premier flagship destination for academic and commercial life science, tech and medical entities in New Jersey and the Greater New York Metropolitan Area. 

Connected to New York city and New Jersey and served by three international airports, it is on the Hudson River at the mouth of New York Harbor. 

The Cove’s geographic location benefits from the largest concentration of biomedical engineers and scientists in the world. 

Once complete, the mixed-use campus will encompass 13+ acres, comprising 1.4 million square feet of lab/tech office and 1.6 million square feet of residences with ample room for parking. 

The project will also include a waterfront park that brings the outdoors in and the indoors out — for tenants, residents, and the Jersey City community alike. The park will be filled with lush greenery and vertical gardens, eye-catching biophilic design pieces, event spaces, and terraces. 

Designed by New York and Shanghai-based Ennead Architects, Nancy J Kelley + Associates is leading marketing and leasing for the property.

Bridging disciplines, institutions and people, The Cove has been envisioned as a super-connected live-work-play supercluster just minutes from Manhattan in the heart of the East Coast life sciences/tech corridor. 

"This location is the center of one of the world’s largest STEM concentrations: colleges and universities, hospitals, healthcare companies, tech firms, data companies, accelerators, maker spaces, pharmaceutical companies, finance firms and more," said Ennead Architects. 

"The Cove reimagines city life by bringing people what they need and want closer together: flexible, state-of-the-art workspaces alongside residences, expansive parkland on the Hudson River, connections to multiple transit options, and exciting retail, restaurants and bars." 

The project will include world-class purpose-built spaces that have the power to stimulate thought and spark breakthroughs for scientists, thinkers and makers. 

Capable of delivering the support, funding, and resources companies need for anything from R&D to commercialization, The Cove will be a place where innovators from across industries and the globe convene to communicate and create. 

"The Cove will be a transformational next generation mixed-use environment, an interconnected smart city hub where live, work and play all take place within a 15-minute walking radius," said Peter Schubert, Partner at Ennead Architects. 

"Designed as a holistic approach to urban living, outside spaces and terraces are integrated throughout all programs, as are a variety of amenities, including a wellness and business research center."

The Cove takes its place among an elite set of peers within a rich network of institutions and firms while making its own unique contribution to the region. 

This high-design campus is the beneficiary of 21st-century infrastructure, lightning-fast broadband, and convenient connections to its neighbors, including Liberty State Park, Liberty Science Center and Scitech Scity (which will be home to a large conference center, co-working spaces, and more). 

It offers an unmatched combination of dynamic amenities, ample green space, comprehensive service and support, aesthetic excellence, as well as easy access to highways, rail, ferries and international airports.

Designed to leverage reclamation, renewal, and resiliency, The Cove sits on a remediated brownfield. The site will be transformed from a polluted industrial waterfront into a thriving public asset that will help protect the shoreline from impacts of climate change. Combined sewer stormwater will be diverted from the harbor, stored, and treated.  

A restored wetland habitat with full public access and eco-education loop will connect to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.  The wetlands will offer a protective system providing natural water filtration, ample wildlife habitat and a natural buffer protecting the shoreline from flooding and storm surge events. 

"The Cove could be among the first regenerative state-of-the-art carbon neutral neighborhoods," said Ennead Architects. 

"Planning has begun to explore the possibility of heating and cooling all buildings through combustion-free heat exchange technology that extracts energy from municipal wastewater."  

"Power could also be provided by solar or other renewable means. Abundant public transportation, dedicated electric vehicle parking, bike lanes and storage will provide residents and workers full mobility and further contribute to the project’s aggressive carbon reduction goals," added the firm. 

All buildings will be designed according to extremely high standards of sustainability and resiliency and will be WELL Building Standard certified.

Groundbreaking is planned for 2022 and the campus will be developed in multiple phases. The project will be realized in multiple phases. 

The first phase encompasses two academic/laboratory/teaching facilities and a commercial life science building totaling up to 833,899 square feet (77,471 square meters) of space.  

The first academic building will include seven floors comprised of a spectrum of life science and teaching uses, including laboratory/office space for companies at all stages of growth, a state-of-the-art digital conference center, a convergence café, and core facilities designed for biomedical engineering, clinical drug discovery and other translational uses. 

The commercial building will include laboratory and office space, as well as street-level retail. The plan will also incorporate a publicly accessible 3.5-acre waterfront park linked to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.  

The project’s second phase will include two commercial laboratory/office buildings totaling 596,000 square-feet (55,370 square meters) just north and east of Phase I. Residential construction will be released as a multiphase development as well. 

The Cove is directly adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike, 10 minutes’ walking distance from PATH and two minutes from light rail. 

It is within 30–60 minutes driving distance from Princeton and the New Jersey pharma parks as well as minutes away by taxi water service to New York City’s major academic medical centers and incubators/accelerators.

Ennead Architects was founded in 1963. The firm is design firm of 200 architects, designers, and thinkers with offices in New York and Shanghai. 

The firm's experience spans laboratory, research, and teaching facilities; museums and arts centers; infrastructure projects; urban plans; and hospitality, residential, and commercial buildings.

Ennead Architects is designing Shanghai Astronomy Museum, which is under construction at site. Ennead Architects together with Bora Architects completed Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene, United States. 

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