SSRN Elsevier is a former printing company space that has been transformed into a modern digital publishing environment.

The building at 1239 University Ave. is owned by David Norbut, of Norbut Renovations. Elsevier’s internal facilities team worked with Labella Associates on the design.

The building is a former printing plant and now houses two of the world’s leading digital publishing companies. The ink stains on the floor remind the occupants every day where it all got started.

The space houses SSRN (Social Science Research Network), which disseminates scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities and more. Elsevier bought SSRN from Social Science Electronic Publishing Inc. in May 2016.

The building also serves as a regional office for Elsevier, a Netherlands-based publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content.

Visitors are awed by the space, the building’s print history, and how beautifully it fits into the neighborhood.

The space and its flexibility have been critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. SSRN works very closely to share early research from two of Elsevier’s flagship journals: The Lancet and Cell Press. Both of them have been critical in providing the peer-reviewed research needed to respond to the pandemic and help create the vaccines.