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IBM designs Quantum System Two as a modular 'chandelier' — Red Dot Best of the Best 2024
IBM's first modular quantum computer wraps a -270°C cryostat in hexagonal aluminum-and-glass architecture — Red Dot: Best of the Best 2024.
IBM
What it had to solve
IBM needed a modular architecture that could scale as quantum processors multiply, and it wanted the machine to feel less like impenetrable lab equipment than a piece of architecture people could relate to.
How it works
For years quantum computers lived in research labs as racks of cryogenic hardware that only specialists could approach. IBM's Quantum System Two set out to change both the architecture and the image: it is the company's first modular quantum computer, the cornerstone of its quantum-centric supercomputing vision, and it is deliberately designed as a piece of architecture.
The design, led by Map Project Office and Universal Design Studio with Goppion engineering the enclosure, embeds the cryostat — running three Heron processors below -270°C — in a hexagonal core. More processor and control-electronics blocks attach to its sides, separated by narrow visible gaps so the modularity reads at a glance. The 4.6m-high, 6.7m-wide structure is clad in anodized, polished, partially perforated aluminum, set in IBM's '2x' visual-identity grid with a light roof, and free-standing glass corner panels invite people in.
The jury's verdict was that Quantum System Two will significantly shape how people experience the quantum era, praising the modular concept, the refined form and the intuitively understandable display. The launch was timed with a film made with Map Project Office that presented the machine's aesthetics emotionally rather than explaining the physics, and the system went live in Yorktown Heights in December 2023 with three Heron processors.
Why it lands
- The modular hexagonal kit solves a real engineering problem — scaling processors and control electronics — and makes the solution physically legible.
- The design language (aluminum cladding, glass corners, IBM '2x' grid) turns a cryogenic lab machine into an approachable, brand-consistent object.
- The launch film treated the machine as the message, focusing on design and capability instead of trying to explain quantum physics.
- The result is a design that scales with the roadmap: the system is built to house future processor generations and classical servers.
What it did
Named IBM's first modular quantum computer and cornerstone of quantum-centric supercomputing; won Red Dot: Best of the Best 2024 in product design, and the design language is now the face of IBM's quantum fleet.
What you can take
When a product is intimidating, design the object itself as the explanation: modular, legible architecture can make even a quantum computer feel like something you can walk into.
Since then
System Two became the reference design for IBM's quantum fleet: the first European installation opened at the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center in San Sebastián in late 2025, and IBM's hardware roadmap positions the modular architecture as the path to fault-tolerant, interconnected systems. The project also took an iF Design Gold Award, and the chandelier-like visual identity remains the most recognizable image of commercial quantum computing.
Sources
- Red Dot Design Award: IBM Quantum System Two
- IBM Debuts Next-Generation Quantum Processor & IBM Quantum System Two, Extends Roadmap to Advance Era of Quantum Utility
- Interview with IBM Quantum
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