Alexandria Real Estate – San Diego, CA

Alexandria Real Estate’s flagship leasing center needed a feature element that demonstrated forward thinking to make it a destination location. Gensler created a digital canvas that could tell Alexandria Real Estate’s story to guests and serve as a presentation sales tool for potential biotechnology clients.

The first step to creating this tool was curating a wealth of data. The Gensler team collected photos, testimonial videos, tenant lists, logos, building information, and location data for 31 properties across the country and began to weave the information into an interactive experience. With just a few taps on an iPad, a leasing agent can start and control the show, taking the client on a journey to different tenants and properties across the country. A Content Management System (CMS) manages the choreographed dance of 16.6 Million pixels that can be instantly and easily updated. I used GIS was used to extract layers of information including landmasses, borders, census population, latitude and longitude lines, and every street in each city. After landing in a selected city, the CMS presents all information stored on the property, including a video testimonial from a biotech leader or a patient whose life has been changed by their discoveries.

To compliment this vast store of information, the project needed an element that provided life, color, and inspiration. While brainstorming the digital art installation the Gensler team uncovered that the ARE’s building was originally an ink factory, creating tools for art before medicine. This became the inspiration for a particle of ink dropping down a stack of 12 monitors adjacent to the digital canvas.

So the fluid movements never seem to repeat, the ink motion was applied to the pixels of photos of Torrey Pines at different times of day. Ink colors are scheduled to change as the sun rises and sets, taking cues from nearby beaches and skies.

ClientAlexandria Real EstateYear2016