CUMC Vagelos Education Center
Looking west on West 171st Street.
New York's latest, high-profile education building has opened on the campus of Columbia University Medical College in Washington Heights. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler, the 14-story Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center houses classroom, simulation and training facilities for the college.
Close-up of the "Study Cascade" at the southeast corner.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Looking up at the east facade from Haven Avenue.
The building's iconic feature is the "Study Cascade," a south facing 14-story space, connected by a grand stair, with a variety of indoor spaces for individual and group interaction, outdoor rooms and terraces that foster collaborative learning amongst students and faculty. With the "Study Cascade" DS+R has sought to subvert the normative medical building typology by rethinking its circulation strategy, which the studio has focused on in a wide range of projects over the past few decades.
The "Study Cascade" at the south facade.
Southwest corner of the "Study Cascade."
GFRC paneling and Douglas fir wood clad the solid forms of the "Study Cascade," while the transparency of floor-to-ceiling glass with glass fin supports allows for open views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.
Close-up of the "Study Cascade" at the south facade.
West facade.
Looking up at the west facade.
Looking southeast from an outdoor terrace on the 13th floor.
View south from an outdoor terrace.
Grand stair at the lobby.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA); Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC School of Nursing
Superstructure has topped out and curtain wall installation has begun at Columbia University Medical Center's (CUMC) new home for the School of Nursing at the corner of Audubon Avenue and West 168th Street in Washington Heights. Only the final floor of the seven story structure remains to be erected.
Designed by FXFOWLE, the 90,000-square-foot building will house CUMC's School of Nursing, one of the oldest in the country. The new building will provide 65 percent more space than the school's current home on West 168th Street, adjacent to the Fort Washington Armory. Inside, the building will feature a state-of-the art simulation center that includes mock in-patient room, exam room, critical care unit, and an operating room.
The ground floor will feature a double height atrium lobby and café that reveals the building's activity to the neighborhood. At the seventh floor, a setback event space will be located adjacent to a rooftop terrace for casual interaction between faculty, staff, and students.
The curtain wall design features full floor glass units with a white vertical frit in either a gradient or consistently dense pattern to achieve a macro level pattern on the façade.
The building has been designed to achieve LEED Silver and is expected to be completed in 2017.
Architect: FXFOWLE; Engineer: DeSimone Consulting Engineers; MEP Engineer: AKF Group; Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering; Developer: Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC); Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2017.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Construction is wrapping up at Columbia University Medical College's new Graduate and Education Building in Washington Heights. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler, the 14-story tower will house classroom, simulation and training facilities for the college when it opens this August. Dedicated on June 9, the building has been renamed the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, after its initial donors P. Roy Vagelos, MD, a alumnus of Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S), and his wife, Diana Vagelos, an alumna of Barnard College and vice chair of the Trustees of Barnard College.
The building's iconic feature is the "Study Cascade," a south facing 14-story space, connected by a grand stair, with outdoor rooms and terraces to foster collaborative learning amongst students and faculty. Cement panels and wood clad the interior features of the "Study Cascade," while the exterior enclosure of floor-to-ceiling glass allows for open views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.
Construction is slated for completion some time next year, with the goal of achieving LEED gold certification.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Looking up at the southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
East façade from West 171st Street.
Close-up of the east facade.
Close-up of the east facade.
South facade and outdoor stair.
Close-up of outdoor stair and southwest corner.
South facade and outdoor stair.
Ground floor south facade and outdoor stair.
Building name signage at the southeast corner of the lobby.
Lobby.
Interior grand stair.
Ground floor spandrel glazing at the east facade.
Looking up at the south facade.
Southwest corner.
Southwest corner.
Close-up of the southwest corner.
Close-up of the southeast corner.
Close-up of the southeast corner.
Close-up of the southeast corner.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA); Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC School of Nursing
Columbia University Medical Center's new home for the School of Nursing is close to topping out in Washington Heights.
Superstructure is close to topping out at Columbia University Medical Center's (CUMC) new home for the School of Nursing at the corner of Audubon Avenue and West 168th Street in Washington Heights. Only the final floor of the seven story structure remains to be erected.
Designed by FXFOWLE, the 90,000-square-foot building will house CUMC's School of Nursing, one of the oldest in the country. The new building will provide 65 percent more space than the school's current home on West 168th Street, adjacent to the Fort Washington Armory. Inside, the building will feature a state-of-the art simulation center that includes mock in-patient room, exam room, critical care unit, and an operating room.
The ground floor will feature a double height atrium lobby and café that reveals the building's activity to the neighborhood. At the seventh floor, a setback event space will be located adjacent to a rooftop terrace for casual interaction between faculty, staff, and students.
The building has been designed to achieve LEED Silver and is expected to be completed in 2017.
Rendering of completed project from West 168th Street.
Northeast corner from Audubon Avenue and West 168th Street.
East façade from Audubon Avenue.
Southeast corner from Audubon Avenue.
Southeast corner from Audubon Avenue and West 167th Street..
South façade from West 167th Street.
South façade from West 167th Street.
Architect: FXFOWLE; Engineer: DeSimone Consulting Engineers; MEP Engineer: AKF Group; Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering; Developer: Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC); Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2017.
CUMC Graduate Education Building
Curtain wall installation progresses Columbia University Medical College's new Graduate and Education Building in Washington Heights. Much of the glass façade has been installed on both the normativenorthern half and the more lively southern half that houses the "Study Cascade." Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler, the 14-story tower will house classroom, simulation and training facilities for the college. Within the "Study Cascade," students and faculty will be able to gather in a variety of spaces. Floor to ceiling glass will allow for open views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.
Construction is slated for completion some time next year, with the goal of achieving LEED gold certification.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Detail of southeast corner.
Detail of southeast corner.
Detail of southeast corner.
South façade.
Detail of south façade.
East façade from Haven Avenue.
East façade from West 171st Street.
East façade from Haven Avenue.
Northeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Northeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Curtain wall installation continues on the "Study Cascade" section of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler's 14-story building for the Columbia University Medical College. The "Study Cascade" at the southern half of the tower features gathering spaces for students and faculty in a variety of configurations that is expressed on the exterior wall. Installation of its glass enclosure has reached the eighth floor and features vertical glass fin supports. A gradient of transparent and opaque white glass panels clad the northern half of the building. The varying levels of transparency of the facade serves as an expression of the functional diagram of the building, where work spaces are located in the more opaque northern portion of the building while spaces for casual interaction occur in the transparent, free form "Study Cascade."
Work is also underway on the open space component of the project which features an outdoor terrace with views to the Hudson River. Construction is slated for completion next year.
Looking north on Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner of the "Study Cascade."
Detail of the "Study Cascade."
Detail of the "Study Cascade."
East facade from Haven Avenue.
East facade from West 171st Street.
Detail of the "Study Cascade."
Northeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Curtain wall installation has begun on the "Study Cascade" section of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler's 14-story building for the Columbia University Medical College. The more normative northern half of the building has been almost completely clad with its exterior wall, a gradient of transparent and opaque white glass panels. Installation of the more expressive, transparent curtain wall on the "Study Cascade" has begun on the fourth floor at the southeast corner. The varying levels of transparency of the facade serves as an expression of the functional diagram of the building, where work spaces are located in the more opaque northern portion of the building while spaces for casual interaction occur in the transparent, free form "Study Cascade."
Looking north on Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
East façade from Haven Avenue.
East façade from West 171st Street.
Detail of "Study Cascade."
South façade.
Detail of the "Study Cascade."
Southwest corner.
Southwest corner.
Northeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Curtain wall installation continues at Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler's 14-story building for the Columbia University Medical College. Most of the panels are up on the west façade, where the first panels appeared late last year. More of the non-uniform structural beams, clad in a white shell, are also apparent on the west façade. The cladding of the east façade has started as well, with fully opaque panels at the base that transition in a gradient to fully transparent panels at the southern end. While structurally fully formed in concrete, the "Study Cascade" still awaits its enclosure, which will be a crucial detail that determines how successfully the constructed building achieves the powerful concept in the renderings.
Looking north on Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
South façade.
Southwest corner.
Southwest corner.
West façade detail.
East façade.
East façade detail.
East façade from West 171st Street.
Northeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
The first panels of curtain wall have gone up on the west façade at Diller Scofidio & Renfro's new, 14-story building for the Columbia University Medical College. The panels consist of a single pane of full floor height glass, much like those used on the recent World Trade Center and Hudson Yards towers. Vertical stripes of white frit have been applied in a gradient pattern to create zones of differing amounts of opacity. Also visible is the white cladding for the diagonal structural members that support the "Study Cascade" element that runs the entire vertical expanse of the south façade. The "Study Cascade" is a 14-story, open stair that provides space for study and social engagement amongst the various disciplines housed within.
When completed in 2016, the building will house P&S, Nursing, Dental Medicine, the Mailman School of Public Health, and the biomedical departments of the CUMC.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
East façade from West 171st Street.
East façade from West 171st Street.
South façade.
Southwest corner.
Southwest corner with curtain wall.
West façade with curtain wall.
Curtain wall detail.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Construction has topped out at the Medical and Graduate Education Building for the Columbia University Medical Center. The 14-story building, a collaboration between Diller Scofidio + Renfro (design architects) and Gensler (executive architects), will house P&S, Nursing, Dental Medicine, the Mailman School of Public Health, and the biomedical departments. The "Study Cascade," a 14-story open stair along the south facade that provides spaces for study and social engagement amongst the various disciplines, is now fully legible and is the truly defining feature of the tower.
Work is ongoing to relocate the garage driveway and to construct the courtyard integrated into the site's southern end. While visiting the site some of the prefabricated concrete stairs were arriving by truck for installation. Soon the curtain wall will also be arriving to the site for installation now that superstructure has reached significant completion.
Looking north along Haven Avenue.
Detail of the southeast corner.
Detail of the southeast corner.
Detail of the southeast corner.
The "study cascade" of the southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
The "study cascade" of the southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Detail of the southeast corner.
Detail of the southeast corner.
The east façade from West 171st Street.
Detail of the "study cascade" on the east façade.
Prefab stairs delivered to the site.
The east façade from Haven Avenue.
Looking south on Haven Avenue.
The south façade.
Detail of the south façade.
Detail of the south façade.
The southwest corner of the "study cascade."
Detail of the southwest corner.
Detail of the southwest corner.
The southwest corner.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.