LaGuardia Design Incubator is a 27,000 square foot business center created to support promising design firms by enabling them to grow into successful, vibrant businesses that contribute meaningfully to the economic and cultural growth of New York City. The incubator is set within a building occupied by LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City in Queens, NY. To attract promising design firm clients, the incubator as a whole presents itself as a definable and viable business entity while allowing each of its clients to project a distinct personality. This notion of identity as played out on multiple levels was the design challenge of the project. To ensure a distinct identity for the incubator, a dedicated entrance and elevator is proposed. An opportunity existed on 30th Street and 47th Avenue at the existing loading dock of the building. Through a distinct surface treatment, a portion of the loading dock becomes coupled with a new external elevator shaft to create a dynamic form. The incubator acquires an outward identity with a street presence visible from the dominant approach at 30th Street and Thomson Avenue. Inside, each client is given a distinct identity by using an urban analogy. A perimeter corridor wrapping the east, south and west facades of the seventh floor can be likened to a city street. Each client studio faces this street with a transparent storefront. Unique signage, spatial arrangement and design define the identity of each client studio. The rear of each client studio faces onto a service corridor. From this corridor, clients have access to conference rooms and staff resources such as accountants, lawyers and business consultants. This arrangement allows incubator clients to establish individual identity while taking advantage of a support structure in close proximity.