This project presented a unique opportunity to expand a modern design studio, currently housed in a century old Norwegian church, and in doing so, recall the former presence of late 19th century religious architecture in the context of 21st century design and manufacturing methodologies.  

Situated on a brownstone lined street in Hoboken, NJ, a neighborhood originally established in the late 19th century, the structure; once a religious communal space (1890), an American Legion Lodge (Chartered by Congress in 1919), and recently the architectural offices of Dean Marchetto Architects (1989) has over time established a precedent of transformation reflecting the religious, political and sociological conditions of the time.

By teaming up with The Product-Architecture Lab, a progressive design program at Stevens Institute of Technology founded by its director John Nastasi, the design studies the most advanced applications of form and computer based manufacturing systems.

Pre-Constructed of a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) bent steel tubular skeletal frame, lead coated copper sheathing and steel and glass curtain wall systems, the structure takes advantage of advanced parametric information modeling systems enabling the complex geometric form of the abstracted Apse to be constructed with the modest budget of a traditional urban addition.