Once its signature blue glass facade is installed, the OneNKY Center will make its mark on the Covington skyline.
Corporex, the Covington-based development firm behind the building, tapped Blue Ash-based Phoenix Architecture to design the building. Due to its prominent location at the foot of the historic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, Phoenix Architecture wanted the building to stand out and serve as a physical reminder of its intended purpose: bringing together the community, according to Phoenix Architecture Director of Design Jason Williams.
The OneNKY Center will house several of Northern Kentucky’s growth organizations, including the NKY Chamber of Commerce, OneNKY Alliance, meetNKY, Thomas More University Division of External Affairs, The Catalytic Fund of Northern Kentucky, BE NKY, Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky Bar Association.
The building will also house the Covington Life Science Lab, which will provide early-stage companies with research and development facilities, shared equipment, office space, and various educational and training opportunities. In 2023, the Covington Life Science Lab inked a 99-year, $12 million lease with the Port Authority for 15,000 square feet of space.
Currently, the OneNKY Center is 100% leased. Once complete, which is expected to happen in 2025, it will feature 47,000 square feet of Class A office space.
Williams told LINK nky that Phoenix Architecture consulted with future tenants, inquiring with each organization about their opinions and objectives regarding the building’s design.
“We met with every tenant, got their goal, came back, incorporated that into a whole,” Williams said. “The process lends itself to the same design aspects about connectivity, where each individual had their voice, but they all went toward the homogenous whole in order to create something they can all work together on.”
Karen Finan, president of the OneNKY Alliance, said the OneNKY Center’s design will symbolize collaboration between Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties and the various growth organizations that will populate the building.
She also touted the building’s positive effect on Covington’s historic Roebling Point neighborhood, further accentuating the area and allowing Northern Kentucky to market itself as a destination for prospective businesses and talent.
“The fact that we’re under one roof, but the design that comes with this will also send a message,” Finan said. “When we work to attract businesses or talent into the market, you want to be able to have visuals and tell the community what you’re about. We feel that the design of the OneNKY will do just that.”
Across the street from the OneNKY Center sits The Ascent – one of the most recognizable buildings in Covington. The Ascent’s iconic blue glass facade greets pedestrians and drivers traveling across the Ohio River on the Roebling Bridge. The Ascent is the brainchild of Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind, a world-renowned designer famous for using deconstructivist style.
The Ascent is a residential building comprised of luxury condominiums. From Williams’ perspective, The Ascent is a residential building that serves a different purpose than the OneNKY Center. Through the design process, Williams said Phoenix Architecture wanted to highlight the openness and connectivity of the OneNKY Center. The firm ultimately sought to complement the aesthetic of The Ascent while differentiating the two buildings.
“We wanted to use the same materials in a way that complemented that, but that’s not what our building is about. Our building’s about the horizontal windows,” Williams said. “It’s about creating views for the tenants to see the community, see across the river, connect visually with where they’re at inside the building to what’s outside, and become more human scale, more pedestrian-oriented.”
Bill Butler, founder and executive chairman of Corporex, said the OneNKY Center would help balance the landscape to one of Northern Kentucky’s primary gateway entrances.
“It will use the same blue glass and same white panels and has very distinctive design in the wall and the roof shape,” Butler said. “As you come across the bridge from north to south, the idea is that we now have a balanced landscape with The Ascent building on one side. You’ll go between two buildings with similarities.”
Butler and Corporex are behind some of the most prominent buildings along the Ohio Riverfront in Northern Kentucky, including The Ascent, the Covington River Center and the yet-to-be-completed Ovation development in Newport.
Like Finan, Butler also believes the OneNKY Center will serve as a regional symbol for generations to come.
“To me, the OneNKY Center speaks to the spirit of this place we now call the OneNKY community,” Butler said. “It speaks to the spirit of that and the future. It’s symbolic of the future of the Northern Kentucky area.”
