Local and state officials recently gathered in Elizabeth to cut the ribbon on the brand new 60,000-square-foot headquarters for Osmo, an olfactory technology company. Osmo uses proprietary AI-driven olfaction technology. The company’s mission is to digitize the human sense of smell. They will deploy cutting-edge robotics and artificial intelligence to bring high-skilled jobs to Elizabeth and become a partner to emerging and enterprise CPG brands. The new facility will combine office, laboratory, and manufacturing under one roof.
Princeton-based architecture, design, and planning firm KSS Architects designed the space to grow as Osmo’s team and technology evolve. Located at 585 Kapkowski Road in Elizabeth, the building balances the concrete structure with organic materials, natural wood and plenty of daylight. The lighting creates an open feel in common areas while providing focused lighting in labs and manufacturing areas. In addition to the expansive windows, a walking path along Newark Bay builds a strong connection between employees and the surrounding environment.
“This facility is the physical embodiment of what we’re building, a place where the science of smell and the technology to digitize it can happen under one roof, at scale,” noted Alex Wiltschko, OSMO’s Founder and CEO. “The team took the time to truly understand the science, and it shows in the design. We’re proud to call Elizabeth home, and this space gives us everything we need to keep pushing the frontier of olfactory intelligence forward.”
Additional organizations that worked on the project included Bridge Industrial and Elberon Development Group as ownership partners, while Rock Brook spearheaded engineering design for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and information technology and security systems. The KSS team included Scot Murdoch, AIA, Partner; Jennie Himler, RA, Associate; Colleen Grogan Bajda, NCIDQ, Associate; Mariela Hernandez, RA; and Shelby Ulrich, NCIDQ.
“Osmo’s innovative work of translating one of our most human senses into a digital language demands a space as ambitious as the company itself,” added Scot Murdoch from KSS Architects. “Our design draws directly from the science of scent, using ideas of concentration, mixing, and dissipation to shape how people gather and move through the space.”
