MaRS Discovery District announced today that Autodesk Inc. will be the innovation hub’s newest tenant.
The 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software company will occupy over 60,000 square feet of the second and third floors of the West Tower, making the new home one of Autodesk’s largest spaces globally. In addition, Autodesk will transform the West Tower’s street-level into an event space and design sandbox for the community to showcase new maker and manufacturing technology.
“Our new space will also be open to give creators in the community access to a collaborative environment,” said Gordon Kurtenbach, senior director of research at Autodesk. “We intend to be a greater part of the community, enabling the next generation of makers and doers to push their crafts into new and unexpected directions with our design tools.”
In addition to the new tenancy, Autodesk will continue to offer up its design and visualization tools to MaRS Cleantech companies, which it says is a value of over $100,000 per startup.
“I am delighted to welcome Autodesk to its new home at MaRS,” said Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS. “Autodesk’s 3D design leadership is evident in products and services around the world and across a broad range of industries, from advanced manufacturing to entertainment, from life sciences discovery to urban development. This capability is at the core of breakthrough innovation and will be incredibly valuable to our community. In addition, Autodesk has been an important partner of MaRS for many years. We know that amazing things will come from this expanded collaboration.”
The new addition of Autodesk leaves the West Tower now at 84% of full capacity.