In addition to a comprehensive master plan and the design of the New Academic Building, SHoP’s work at FIT includes a complex of fourteen interconnected learning laboratories known as A Labs. Disciplines served in the project’s 60,000 square feet include fragrance chemistry, dye testing, weaving, printmaking, and purpose-built studios for jewelry, shoe, fabric, and toy design. SHoP also designed a new space for the school’s broadcast studio.

Responding to a feeling of isolation between the various arts represented at the Institute, the spaces were designed to maximize visual connection between laboratories, circulation, and exhibition spaces.