Supporting innovation at the large-scale means investing in your neighborhood and community to transform or create new innovation districts. These dense, mixed-use environments foster a vibrant ecosystem that connects people, ideas, and investment to drive commercialization of inventions, research, and technologies.

Located adjacent to an anchor institution or downtown, innovation districts are places where people live, work, learn, and play. They have the power to boost local economies, raise the reputations of universities or institutions, and spark creative interactions.

The Pearl 

Ayers Saint Gross is collaborating with Wexford Science and Technology, Atrium Health, and Wake Forest School of Medicine to create The Pearl, a dynamic mixed-use innovation district in Charlotte, North Carolina. The district is anchored by a 300,000 SF academic building, home to the second location of Wake Forest School of Medicine and the city’s first four-year medical school.

The master plan weaves the new community into the fabric of the city and centers itself around this highly visible and prominent academic anchor building which is connected to a new 250,000 SF research building. A large public plaza serves as the heart of the district where students, faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs, visitors, and the local community can gather.