28/04/2016
A design team unwilling to settle for just fulfilling the project's charter produced a fresh, glass-fronted building for Columbia University's $45-million School of Nursing.
The newest element of the Columbia University Medical Center's portfolio, the School of Nursing will be known not only for housing a sophisticated simulation center for teaching purposes, but also for its top-floor event space and rooftop terrace, which will offer views of such New York City landmarks as Yankee Stadium and the historic High Bridge.
And it never would have happened without a design team willing to take a risk in its proposal to the school.
The simulation center, an 8,000 to 9,000 sq ft, two-floor workspace populated by real-world nursing equipment and "breathing," lifelike mannequins, was at the heart of the project charter given to firms that were invited to enter a design competition for the structure, which was to occupy a 20,000 sq ft site. However, the rooftop space, which offers sweeping views of the building's neighborhood on the north end of Manhattan (at West 168 th Street and Audubon Avenue), was a standout element of the winning design, which was submitted by a joint venture comprising CO Architects, of Los Angeles, and FXFOWLE, of New York City. The joint venture, known as CO|FXFOWLE, wowed the selection committee, according to Patrick Burke, AIA, the medical center's assistant vice president for capital projects, by designing a 68,000 sq ft, seven-floor building that would sit on just half the site.
It came down, essentially, to a math problem. The school of nursing plans to expand to 140,000 sq ft in two phases. The competition called for a Phase 1 proposal with the understanding that Phase 2 would add to that structure sometime in the future.
"A lot of designs went with a shorter, 3.5-story scheme that allowed for us to build up above. But with that comes the challenges of building above an occupied building," says Burke. "FXFOWLE and CO Architects said, 'We're only going to build on half the site now, 10,000 square feet, but we're going to go up to 7 stories.' They basically left the south half of the site vacant to allow for a future structure. And it was very thoughtful."
