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 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 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
Construction has surpassed the half way mark at Columbia University Medical Center's Medical and Graduate Education Building. 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. Inside, the tower contains classrooms, spaces for collaboration, and a simulation center. The tower's dominant feature is the "Study Cascade," a 14-story open stair along the south facade that provides spaces for study and for social engagement to encourage collaboration among all of the disciplines housed together.
Looking north along Haven Avenue.
Detail of the "Study Cascade."
The southeast corner of the building.
The south facade.
The southwest corner of the building.
The east facade from Haven Avenue.
Detail of the east facade.
Detail of the northeast corner.
Aerial rendering of the completed building. Courtesy of CUMC.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro w/ Gensler; Program: Education; Location: New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
There are signs of construction progress at Diller Scofidio + Renfro's medical tower for the Columbia University Medical College in Washington Heights. At completion, the 14 story tower will provide state-of-the-art classrooms and a simulation center. For now, the ground floor concrete form work has begun and some funky steel members have been erected.