For years, the Ives Architectural team had the privilege of designing projects at the Nabisco plant in Fair Lawn, New Jersey—a sprawling industrial complex where the air often carried the comforting scent of freshly baked cookies.
One of the most memorable challenges involved the design of entrance portals that guided employees and visitors from the parking areas into the building. It might sound simple, but the reality was anything but: pedestrians needed to navigate a complex landscape where tractor-trailers rumbled past and freight trains delivered flour almost within arm’s reach. The design solution had to be clear, visible in all weather and light conditions and psychologically reassuring—the red tubular steel portals we designed solved the problem.
Over the years, my firm worked on numerous renovation projects within the facility—modest updates, and the kinds of behind-the-scenes improvements that kept the operation humming. Generations of families worked at Nabisco, and the plant was a vital part of Fair Lawn’s identity.
Sadly, the building was recently demolished, taking with its decades of architectural care, industrial ingenuity and countless batches of Animal Crackers, Mallomars and Oreos. All that remains today is a pile of rubble. Watching it come down was a reminder that even the most robust structures are ultimately impermanent. But the work we did there—the people we worked with, the problems we solved—lives on in memory and experience.
Contact the Ives Architectural Studio for your next architectural challenge, whether it involves cookies or not!
