Touro University at 3 Times Square

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Touro University’s new Manhattan Campus at 3 Times Square brings together nine graduate and undergraduate programs formerly located in several local schools across the city. The new vertical campus, located on eleven floors of 3 Times Square, houses classrooms, a library, lecture halls, laboratories, a large event space and other student lounge and amenity spaces. The first phase of the 300,000 gross square foot project was open for the start of the Fall 2023 school semester. The project reflects Touro’s strong belief in the value of in-person learning and meeting students where they are.

Located in the heart of Times Square, Touro’s new consolidated campus features a dedicated entrance lobby at the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 43rd Street. The designers wanted to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity the Times Square location offered the school to present themselves to the public and communicate the school’s many academic offerings. The design challenge for the lobby was to create a strong presence on Times Square while providing a restrained, dignified image for an institution of higher education.

To maximize the impact, we first expanded the exposure from the street by demolishing a mechanical mezzanine level, raising the ceiling, and increasing the height of the exterior glazing. The design includes a new entrance and entry canopy, and new elevators to bring students up to the second floor where they transfer to the tower elevator core that services floors 2-11.  A large opening in the second-floor slab smooths that connection and provides a dramatic 38-foot high space. A stair to the second floor is designed as a ribbon to encourage a view up with hung structural rods accentuating the verticality of the space.

To compete with the vibrancy of the context, where animated LED signs skin the outside every building, our strategy was to brightly light the interior space so that attention is focused on the interior volume of space. A super graphic was created with linear bands of light. The fixtures face a matte-white wall and its reflected light fills the lobby with luminosity. Instead of conveying the college identity with intense illumination set behind a luminous surface, the name Touro is demarcated with the absence of light. The word “TOURO” is in complete shadow. In order to not be upstaged by Times Square’s attention seeking media, The vertical illuminance of the reflected light at one foot from the feature wall is at a very high level of well over 100 foot-candles. This quantity of light diminishes as one steps further from the wall. The high contrast ratio of a static brightly illuminated white wall in combination with the dark shadows of the lettering makes the interior lobby plainly visible from afar. In fact, the lack of animation figures prominently when seen in conjunction with the ever-moving media of Times Square.

Schiff House Daycare Center at CCNY

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The new 3,000 square foot Schiff House Daycare Center is intended to serve the children of the students and faculty of the City College of New York. Located in the former President’s House, the renovation of the 1912 neo-gothic stone building and its 1950’s addition encompassed the entire interior, a restoration and upgrade of the exterior, as well as a new playground in the rear yard.

With four classrooms the school is capable of accommodating 45 children between the ages of 2 and 6 years. Curved walls soften the interior environment for the small children, and playful fenestration opens up sightlines and brings unity to the space. These large interior openings allow natural light to penetrate deep into the spaces, and each is framed by stained Baltic Birch plywood to create a warm surround.

These window openings are deep enough and low enough to act as benches for the children throughout. At the new Entrance Hall cubbies for storage of student belonging are also constructed of Baltic Birch plywood also with the ends of the striated boards exposed. Thin white solid surfacing cubby interiors provide greater durability, and the benches allow the children a place for putting on and taking off coats and shoes.

An interior Maple bleacher was created as a focus for the classrooms and to provide a place for the entire school to gather. Intended to be used for story-time, the upper loft portion, which is surrounded by glass, also acts as a stage for the children to perform. This warm and playful stepped, central element is intersected by the remnant of the former chimney, which is painted bright red.

The interior stair was redesigned and enlarged to make it code compliant. Stained Maple pickets were used to provide the code-required guard rail enclosure while also forming a rounded and continuous volume that penetrates the first and second floors. The pickets were notched to accommodate a curved steel plate onto which handrails were attached. In addition, oak treads were used on steel risers so that all surfaces that are touched are of wood.

Four foot-deep stained Maple portals mark the transition in the Entrance Hall to the 1912 stone building from the stucco 1950’s addition. A small cutout, framed in Baltic Birch, above the cubbies reveals the original stone exterior.

Exterior openings were added and enlarged to bring in more natural light. Unique 12 over 1 insulated double-hung mahogany wood windows were inserted based on historic photos of the original 1912 design. A natural oiled finish was used on the windows at the exterior and interior. In addition, new custom Mahogany entrance doors with curved openings and an oiled finish were installed to match the windows.

The combination of all these wood constructions along with soft interior colors and a cork floor creates a warm, welcoming and playful environment for the children.

Awards and Publications:
2020 Architect’s Newspaper Best in Design – Interiors
2024 AIANY Chapter Interior Design Merit Award

The New York Public Library Macomb’s Bridge Library

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Michielli + Wyetzner Architects were asked to create a new branch for The New York Public Library at Harlem River Houses, a landmarked public housing complex located in an under-served neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. Constructed in 1936, Harlem River Houses was the first federally funded housing project in NYC. 

Situated on the street level, along the major thoroughfare of Adam Clayton Powell Junior Boulevard, the new 3,500 square foot library was created from seven separate and demised storefronts. Because the facility is adjacent to a public park and can be seen from a distance, a new entrance and canopy were created at the south to give the branch greater visibility in the community. In addition, the exterior of the branch was cleaned and restored, including storefront windows, which were replaced with bronze mullions and details to make them compatible with their original design while adding new insulated glass for energy efficiency.  

With no basement below, the existing ceilings of the spaces were low and obstructed with piping inherited from the four stories of apartments above. The architects took advantage of a setback on the floor above to lift the roof, raise the ceiling, and add clerestory windows to admit sunlight to the centrally located Children’s Room. The spaces were completely gut-renovated and the brick bearing walls supporting the perpendicular facades above were opened up with new large-scaled, wood-framed interior windows allowing views through and across the light-filled interior. In addition, an Adult Reading Room was included along with a new Community Room and various support spaces. Different floor heights were negotiated with a new book-lined, ADA- compliant ramp, and a wood floor was added to provide a welcoming and warm interior.  A new accessible wood slat ceiling along the main walkway conceals HVAC units, and brightly colored corridors indicate public bathrooms. Book shelves were mostly built into walls to conserve open space. 

The branch performs numerous services for the surrounding community, including English as Second Language classes, job training, computer and technology classes and small business seminars. In addition, after school programs for children are provided, which include story times for preschoolers, arts and crafts, and reading programs for visiting classes during school hours. The Macomb’s Bridge Library is hosted “A  People’s History of Harlem,” a Harlem neighborhood Oral History project where local  residents are trained to interview longtime residents to tell their stories of this renowned  New York neighborhood.  

Awards and Publications:
2021 AIANY Chapter Interiors Design Merit Award
2020 AIA New York State Adaptive Reuse Design Merit Award

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts

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Recognized as one of New York City’s best live music venues, the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts was recently reopened in time to celebrate 40years of great music and performances at Lehman College’s Bronx campus. The new renovation and addition breathes new life into to a 1970’s brutalist structure and creates a vibrant new entrance to the college.  The primary mission of the Center is to bring affordable, high quality and culturally diverse performances from around the world to the Bronx. In addition to its central functions as a concert and performance hall, the facility is an integral component in the life of the college and the surrounding neighborhood;  hosting a range of functions including lectures, seminars, recitals and graduation ceremonies for many of the area high schools.  Seen from the elevated subway station to the east, the new addition to the Performing Arts Center is a glowing and visible presence in the wider community.

The new glazed entrance pavilion, which adds 6,000 square feet of additional program, includes an expanded box office, administrative offices, restrooms and support spaces.  Specific upgrades to the 2,300 seat theater include a larger mezzanine lobby, a new concession stand and new interior finishes.  A primary objective of the renovation was to make the building accessible – in every sense of the word. The transparent glass addition contrasts with the solidity of the existing building’s opaque, limestone façade allowing views of the activities within the building, giving the structure a more welcoming and open appearance.  New ramps, lifts and an elevator provide routes to ADA accessible seating areas added at multiple levels within the hall so that all spectators have options for viewing positions and ticket prices.

Board-formed concrete walls enclose new bathrooms, mechanical and support spaces. The material was chosen for its structural properties as well as its compatibility with the color and texture of the limestone façade, and exposed concrete surfaces within the hall. To increase energy performance, the west-facing glazing has integrated louvers that protects from solar heat gain, an independent heating and cooling system so that administrative areas can be conditioned separately from the main hall, and a highly-insulated building envelope detailed to minimize thermal bridging. 

By opening a formerly impenetrable volume, the renovation has renewed the spirit of the concert hall and provides a dynamic and inviting venue for students and the public to experience quality performers from around the world.

The new glazed entrance pavilion, which adds 6,000 square feet of additional program, includes an expanded box office, administrative offices, restrooms and support spaces.  Specific upgrades to the 2,300 seat theater include a larger mezzanine lobby, a new concession stand and new interior finishes. A primary objective of the renovation was to make the building accessible – in every sense of the word. The transparent glass addition contrasts with the solidity of the existing building’s opaque, limestone façade allowing views of the activities within the building, giving the structure a more welcoming and open appearance.  New ramps, lifts and an elevator provide routes to ADA accessible seating areas added at multiple levels within the hall so that all spectators have options for viewing positions and ticket prices.

Board-formed concrete walls enclose new bathrooms, mechanical and support spaces. The material was chosen for its structural properties as well as its compatibility with the color and texture of the limestone façade, and exposed concrete surfaces within the hall.   To increase energy performance, the west-facing glazing has integrated louvers that protects from solar heat gain, an independent heating and cooling system so that administrative areas can be conditioned separately from the main hall, and a highly-insulated building envelope detailed to minimize thermal bridging.  By opening a formerly impenetrable volume, the renovation has renewed the spirit of the concert hall and provides a dynamic and inviting venue for students and the public to experience quality performers from around the world.

Awards and Publications:
2020 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award

Delancey & Essex Street Garage

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The design goals for the facades of the Delancey & Essex St. Garage include the development of a lightweight, naturally ventilated, visually dynamic facade that contributes to the rich texture of the changing neighborhood. The proposed solution is a three dimensional, porous facade composed of 1.25” diameter cables that are woven as if on a loom. This concept of weaving is loosely associated with the history of the Lower East Side and the early garment industry there.
The pattern of the cable design is inspired by the work of various abstract artists including Optical Art works such as Francois Morellet’s “Grillage” drawings that are composed of a system of simple grids overlaid in a way that creates new larger scale patterns. The facade solution was produced by offsetting two layers of stainless steel-jacketed composite cables, which when viewed together, create moire patterns that seemingly move across the face of the building as the viewer’s position changes by walking or driving up the street. To achieve this effect, the exterior plane of cables, which stretch from the second to sixth floors, was shaped so that it folds out as much as 2 feet from the face of the back layer of cables, which are in a flat plane.
The cables will be attached by stainless steel o-rings sleeved around the cable and connected to steel tube “combs.” The cables will have integral end fittings that will have turnbuckles for tightening and adjustability. The termination details are simple and unobtrusive.

Awards and Publications:
2018       AIANY Architecture Citation Award
2017       Delancey and Essex Parking Garage / Michielli + Wyetzner Architects Arch Daily November 24, 2017
2017       SARA NY Design Excellence Award
2017       Metropolis Magazine May 2017 City Designer’s Picks for New York
2013       We Build the City, NYC’s Design + Construction Excellence Program. ORO Editions
2013       NYC Chapter AIA Projects Merit Award
2011       NYC Public Design Commission Excellence in Design Award 2011
2011       Oculus,”From NIMBY to YIMBY”, Winter 2011
2011       Architectural Record,”Investments in Public Architecture Pay Off for the City”, September 2011
2011       Real Estate Journal, “Michielli + Wyetzner Architects to begin $4 million cable façade renovation, August 9, 2011
2011       New York Observer, “Finally! A Pretty Parking Garage”, June 29, 2011

Greenpoint EMS Station

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The Greenpoint Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is a new, two-story, 12,400-square-foot facility that is part of an NYC program to improve response times to medical emergencies throughout the city. Located on a prominent site in the growing Brooklyn, NY neighborhood of Williamsburg, it supports the Fire Department of New York ambulance vehicles and crews who have come to consider the station a second home. Commissioned by the Department of Design and Construction as part of mayor Bloomberg’s Design Excellence Program, the building is a trenchant example of the new paradigm for New York City municipal architecture.

The station’s requirements for vehicles and staff led to a four-part organization of the interior. The east side which houses the four ambulances and command vehicle requires higher ceilings than the rest of the station and this increase in height helps organize the building’s functions. On the lower west side are the lieutenant’s office, captain’s office, and other administrative spaces. On the second floor above the vehicle bays are locker rooms and bathrooms for the 54 women and 97 men who maintain the station’s three shifts. Across the atrium, to the west, is a fitness facility, training room, and 700-square-foot combined kitchen and lounge area. The first floor’s different ceiling heights repeat at the roof line. The architects mark it with a skylight that extends from the front to the back of the building bringing daylight to the second floor and through an opening in the floor to the ground level. The double height glass-enclosed entry also marks the division between functions and is filled with natural light.

On the exterior, FDNY-red, roll-up doors on the vehicle side introduce bright color for what is otherwise a cool, glass facade. Providing a diagonal sculptural break is the transparent exit stair, covered with glass-enclosed perforated aluminum panels, that runs parallel along the street facade, connecting the entrance with the second floor. The 90-foot-long, second-story translucent glass wall with a honeycomb pattern set into the glass, appears to float above the ground floor and helps to form the building’s strong identity. Aglow in the evening, the Greenpoint EMS Station has become a distinct presence in the Williamsburg community.

Awards and Publications:
2018       AIANY Architecture Citation Award
2017       Delancey and Essex Parking Garage / Michielli + Wyetzner Architects Arch Daily November 24, 2017
2017       SARA NY Design Excellence Award
2017       Metropolis Magazine May 2017 City Designer’s Picks for New York
2013       We Build the City, NYC’s Design + Construction Excellence Program. ORO Editions
2013       NYC Chapter AIA Projects Merit Award
2011     NYC Public Design Commission Excellence in Design Award 2011
2011       Oculus,”From NIMBY to YIMBY”,Winter 2011
2011       Architectural Record,”Investments in Public Architecture Pay Off for the City”,September 2011
2011      Real Estate Journal, “Michielli + Wyetzner Architects to begin $4 million cable façade renovation, August 9, 2011
2011       New York Observer, “Finally! A Pretty Parking Garage”, June 29, 2011

Lewis Davis Pavilion

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Waterside Plaza is a four tower residential complex built in the 1970’s as middle-class housing under the Mitchell-Lama statute. It holds an iconic, but somewhat isolated presence on the east side of Manhattan.

As part of a larger overall update and improvement, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects were asked to create a new event space to draw residents and visitors with a program of lectures and performances. The new facility contains an auditorium with loose seating for 70 people with a moveable glass wall that allows it to expand to 140 people. In addition, there is a bar and lounge area with a fireplace and computer tables, and a conference room for private meetings. Combining rigorous technical requirements with a wide variety of programmatic elements the space is designed to be flexible and refined. 

The project emphasizes light, acoustics and materials to create a welcoming and refined environment that is a backdrop for a variety of program uses including quiets study, socializing, banquets or performance.      

Equipped with a state of the art audiovisual system, the lecture space was soundproofed with double wall and ceiling configurations to screen out sound from the residential apartments above and the adjacent FDR Drive to the west.

An illuminated vestibule distinguishes the event space from the surrounding retail storefronts on the plaza level. Clad in stainless steel panels on the interior, terrazzo floors and acoustical wood paneling combine with a metal baffle ceiling to provide a warm and welcoming environment for this community gathering space.

Awards and Publications:
2019       AIANY Interiors Speed Presentation Selection

Kingsborough Community College Student Conference Center

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The recently completed renovation of the Student Conference Center at Kingsborough Community College breathes new life into a high-demand, multi-purpose 14,000 s.f. space on their Brooklyn waterfront campus. The public assembly space hosts small and large scale events of up to 300 people. The renovation included sophisticated acoustic, lighting and AV support infrastructure to accommodate events as varied as conferences, lectures, film viewing, student testing, and blood drives.

A new, motorized folding acoustic wall was installed to subdivide the space. When separated, each room is fully independent, supported by state of the art technology to meet the various needs of the student body. New glazed doors and storefront sidelights with fritted glass were installed to provide a stronger visual connections to the adjoining terrace and to provide egress routes from each space.

The design enhanced the existing 1970’s shell by building on its strengths. Tinted glazing was replaced by solar-protected glazing to increase the amount of natural daylight entering the room. The elevated sections of the ceiling were coated with a smooth plaster finish to soften the light entering through triangular clerestory windows. The palette of natural materials, including light maple ceiling and grey linoleum flooring, creates a warm, fresh and welcoming atmosphere for the room.

ICS Brooklyn

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This new 6,000 square foot office fit-out for Independence Care System (ICS) is an expansion adjacent to an existing outreach and office center in downtown Brooklyn.

ICS is a not-for-profit advocate organization for the disabled providing community center functions, counseling, workshops, and wheelchair maintenance services. This is one of three centers located in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Located on the 5th floor of what was the JW Mays Department Store, the new office retains many of the existing decorative features that were part of the original store construction from the early 20th Century. Combining original pressed tin ceilings and ornate wood moldings, the space is an amalgam of old and new, with the ghost of a demolished staircase visible on an existing demising wall.

In addition to their constituents, many of the employees are also disabled and a broad central corridor allows ample maneuverability for wheelchairs. Running parallel for its entire length is an illuminated fascia. With natural light entering at the west end of the space, this glowing surface symbolically extends the light from the café area at the windows along the entire 150-foot length of the office.

An existing brick bearing wall intersects the illuminated fascia where an opening was created to allow access to a new call center at the rear of the space. In addition, a neighboring tenant space to the north, with only one exit stair, required the inclusion of a new public corridor through the new ICS space as part of the fit-out design. Bifurcating the plan, the passageway was conceived as a tunnel that does not reach the ceiling allowing the volume of the space to flow above it. Painted red to signal its emergency egress function; glass doors on hold-opens allow passage through it.

La Maison Française

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La Maison Franҫaise is a 19th Century former carriage house that serves as a resource for NYU’s French Department students and as a forum of French-American cultural events for the public at-large. A renovated second floor reading room and outdoor terrace help to improve function and comfort for the staff and students, while a thorough exterior rehabilitation of this landmarked building helps to ensure that it remains an integral part of Washington Mews and the Greenwich Village Historic District.

With all new furnishings, lighting, a raised ceiling, and restored floors, the Tom Bishop Reading Room provides a brighter, more welcoming space for research and relaxation. Mechanical and technological upgrades are integrated into the architecture, providing utility and a smaller energy footprint without drawing attention. On the exterior, historical mortar and porous clay bricks were used to re-point and repair the facades. By matching the existing masonry and hand-mixing a softer, lime-heavy mortar, the potential for chemical damage within the wall was mitigated. In conjunction with NYC Landmarks, period-specific paint colors were chosen to ensure that the building retains its circa 1880’s appearance. A newly restored cornice and energy-code compliant roof top off the building, eliminating lingering water infiltration issues.

 

New York Hospital Queens: Astoria Primary Care Clinic

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This new off- site primary care clinic is one in a series of new neighborhood practices intended to raise the profile of the New York Hospital Queens in the surrounding community. Located on a corner site along the busy thoroughfare of 30th Avenue in Astoria, the distinctive design is intended to give this satellite facility a powerful presence in the neighborhood.

A new entrance canopy was added to provide shelter and act as an emblem for the facility. The canopy leads into a ceiling plane within the waiting room; visible from the exterior it creates a strong form along the street.

A perforated metal screen was used to mask the irregular pattern of existing windows on the ground floor. The screen allows daylight to enter during the day and artificial light to emit a mysterious glow on the exterior in the evening. Floating above the newly clad ground floor, the second story brick box is unchanged save for the front elevation where the two existing windows were combined into one overt horizontal opening increasing the natural light in the upper waiting room and forming a distinct composition in harmony with the glass and steel elevation below.

The two-story brick building was completely gutted to accommodate new exam and consultation rooms. The main circulating corridor on both floors is located along the perimeter of the cross street to allow natural light to enter into the patient area. Waiting rooms on the first and second floor will allow ample amounts of controlled natural light into the space.

Distinct geometric volumes interact with each other at the reception desk and a new boldly-colored enclosed stair volume provides a dramatic transition between floors and is also visible from the street. In addition, an illuminated ceiling spills light onto the sidewalk through the floor to ceiling glass contributing to the unique presence of NYHQ in the surrounding area.

Awards and Publications:
2016       Masonry Design Magazine “This Satellite Facility is a Powerful Presence in the Community” May 2016
2016       SNAP Architectural News + Products “Curb Appeal” Jan/Feb 2016
2015       AIA National Healthcare Design Honor Award

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center

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Mental Health & Primary Care Clinic

The new Callen-Lorde Community Health Center satellite clinic combines two separate but related disciplines on two floors in an 8-story, turn-of-the-century loft building in Chelsea in New York City. The new off-site practice houses a mental health facility on the 5th floor and a primary care clinic on the 4th floor. The health center sought to develop a site that would meet the very different regulatory requirements of the two practices which included occupying separate spaces. Through design, a seamless experience is created for patients accessing their behavioral and medical care. The setting provides licensed medical care and mental health with case managers floating between the two spaces ensuring that patients receive both services and that there is no conflict between the treatment plans or therapeutic regimens.

The square layout of the 5th floor has service spaces along the east and west party walls with consultation rooms along the north and south window walls. Channel glass partitions along the corridors allow natural light to enter deep into the facility. The channel glass provides the necessary acoustical and visual privacy required for psychotherapy while maintaining a robust surface for the occasional patient impact. Upon entering, a linear waiting room under a lowered blue ceiling sits opposite the reception desk and large group room. With its distinctive circular perforated doors the multi-purpose meeting room is divisible into two smaller group rooms and opens up completely to the waiting area for larger events. The cork floors and exposed, surface-mounted light fixtures with the adjacent baffle ceilings are intended to give the new mental health facility a warm and modern atmosphere antithetical to typical institutional healthcare design. A complement of cool and calming blues were employed to complete the palette.

The primary care clinic comprises half of the 4th floor. Intended to serve the patients of the mental health facility one floor above, a similar palette of materials was employed in the design. Exam rooms line the south facing wall with clerestory windows allowing natural light to enter the corridor and interior exam rooms across the hall. Strong graphics and a baffle ceiling along with similarly blue-colored wall and ceiling planes provide a distinct look for the facility which is in harmony with the mental health facility on the floor above.

Awards and Publications:

2018       AIANY Interiors Speed Presentation Selection

Callen-Lorde Community Health Extension Clinic Bronx

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Michielli + Wyetzner Architects are helping to create a brand for off-site satellite health centers for the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. Their new extension clinic combines mental health and primary care services in a single location in the underserved South Bronx. Located on the ground floor in a storefront space, the clinic contains exam rooms therapy rooms and support spaces.

Through design, a seamless experience is created for patients accessing their behavioral and medical care. The single setting provides licensed medical and mental health care ensuring that patients receive both services without conflict between the treatment plans or therapeutic regimens.

Upon entering the facility, an illuminated wall runs the length of the linear waiting room. Visible from the street, the glowing fascia provides a strong presence in the surrounding neighborhood. Large translucent windows provide abundant amounts of natural light from the sidewalk beyond. Designed as two separate pavilions, the reception stations for the clinic and a separate pharmacy contain lockable roll down gates for security.

Therapy and exam rooms, and support spaces are located off of a double loaded corridor at the rear. A high ceiling allows for large clerestory windows that bring natural light deep into the interior. Intended to relate to another Callen-Lorde clinic in Chelsea, vibrant colors and cork floors and metal baffle ceilings complete a warm and welcoming palette.

Gateway II

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Located in East Harlem at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 126th Street, this new 50,000 square foot mixed-use building incorporates retail, office, and residential uses. The developer requested a unified design that provides the separation of uses and respects their different scales.  The six-story building has a ground floor of retail space followed by two floors of office space. The remaining top three floors house a community facility with a residential health-care component.

The primary exterior material of glazed brick is articulated with a varied fenestration pattern that expresses the programmatic divisions of the floors: larger fixed windows for the lower office floors, smaller scale operable windows with related mechanical grills for the upper two floors of community facility and residences. Two entrances serve the different uses, with a lobby for the offices located along the commercial Lexington Avenue and a lobby for the residential community facility portion located along the smaller-scaled 126th Street. The top floor is set back from the street wall providing a terrace and green roof for use by the residents.  The overall massing and floor to floor heights allow for a potential future connections to an adjacent existing building owned by the same developer.

Awards and Publications:
2011      Building Design and Construction, “Harlem Facility Combines Social Services with Retail, Office Space”, January  2011
2010       Real Estate Weekly, “Hybrid building making life in East Harlem Better All Round”, December 8, 2010
2010       e-Oculus, “Gateway Opens Doors to Harlem, December 2010
2010      Dexigner, “Unique Mixed-use Building in Harlem by Michielli + Wyetzner Architects”, December 2010


Water Mill House

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This 2,000 square foot addition to an existing 3-bedroom house in Water Mill, New York transforms a standard 30′ X 30′ developer house into a horizontal composition that anchors it to its two-acre wooded site. The image of the house was upgraded and new program elements were added, including a screened-in porch, two-car garage, entry porch, and exterior terraces. By raising the existing offset gable roof and recomposing the facades, MWA created a double-height living volume that connects the structure with the landscape and allows greater amounts of daylight to penetrate deep into the space. The newly relocated kitchen opens onto the double-height living/dining space that opens to the exterior by full-height, wall-to-wall sliding glass doors. A series of terraces step down from the living room level to the pool integrating the house with the landscape. The clear cedar cladding on the ground floor links the lower level of the main house with the new mahogany screened-in porch and garage addition that extends horizontally from the house. The bedrooms are enclosed in a black-stained second-story volume above.

EDAW/AECOM

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Occupying the top floor of a 1910 New York City landmarked building, this new 10,000 square foot office interior for the global urban planning and landscape architecture firm EDAW/AECOM is the first of a comprehensive design upgrade of its North American offices. Intended to foster creativity among its staff and inspire its clients, the open office space has a new skylight opening located above a central glass-paneled meeting room. Tracks suspended from the ceiling-mounted steel trusses allow individual steel-framed glass panels of the meeting room to slide across the office creating a number of different space configurations for conferences, displays, and office-wide presentations. This flexible design element meets the ever-changing needs of the office while providing a vibrant and dynamic focal point. The project’s construction methods, mechanical system, lighting design and material selection achieve a rating of LEED Gold reflecting the commitment of the EDAW/AECOM organization towards sustainable and environmentally responsive design.

Awards and Publications:
2010 Winner of AIA NYC Chapter Interiors Honor Award

LEED Certified Gold

Mount Sinai School of Medicine

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Located within an urban campus on the upper east side of Manhattan, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine occupies the 12th & 13th floors of a 26-story tower completed in 1975. To meet the 21st century needs of the students and faculty, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects designed new offices for the Dean of Medical Education (construction completed 2006) and a phased project for student spaces, including a new 150-seat auditorium, teaching laboratories, seminar rooms, student lounges and study spaces.

MWA reconfigured the floors so that corridors are wider and open to views to the exterior, bringing natural light deep into the interior. New sustainable materials such as cork, marmoleum, and recycled nylon carpets are combined with glass walls and baffle ceilings to provide a warm, maintenance-free environment.

The design of the teaching spaces reflects the new direction of medical education. State-of-the-art distance learning and audio-visual and computer aids are incorporated into all classrooms. The free-form auditorium on the 12th floor provides an identifiable center for the program while the space surrounding it acts as the informal gathering area for the school. These new spaces for informal interaction create a campus-like atmosphere for the floors.

In addition, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects have completed projects for various other constituencies at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine including the Department of Orthopaedics and the Department of Oncological Science/Cancer Prevention Control.

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine Department of Orthopedics

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Michielli + Wyetzner Architects designed the 7,000 square foot Department of Orthopedics medical suite for the Faculty Practice Associates. The clinic includes exam rooms, an X-ray suite, doctors’ offices and offices for billing and scheduling. A generous central corridor allows patients to circulate through on crutches or with an attendant. Bamboo walls protected with vertical stainless steel hand rails provide a visually rich environment. Outdated X-ray light boxes are used as art pieces in the public spaces, while exam rooms are outfitted with the latest digital technology. The reception and waiting area provides a large format LED screen for relaying the latest practices and procedures in orthopedics.

Stern College for Women

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Michielli + Wyetzner Architects has been working with Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women to redesign and upgrade their Lexington Avenue Beren Campus. In addition to library, dining, and laboratory planning studies, MWA renovated an existing 40-year old building, updating the front elevation with a new entrance and façade treatments and designing a new lobby and study hall. The new recessed entrance and striped patterned-glass curtain wall give the college a new identity and a strong presence in the neighborhood while also providing an increased level of privacy for the occupants.  MWA reconfigured the existing ground floor to increase the size of the lobby and add new classrooms that can be combined into one large event space. Electronic glass separates the classroom/event space from the lobby, enabling the separation to become transparent or opaque at the flip of a switch. Bamboo wall panels, terrazzo floors and glass combine to create a warm, bright and inviting entrance lobby for the school.  As part of the design for the new Beit Midrash study hall, MWA enclosed the roof area of the existing seventh floor set-back in glass, creating a beacon for the school in the neighborhood. A bamboo ark containing the Torah is recessed in a custom decorative glass wall.

Port Washington House

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Located on Manhasset Bay in Long Island, this house is designed to maximize the views to the west across the water, especially the sunsets, which are cherished by the owner. After a fire destroyed the existing home, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects redesigned this house on the North Shore with an income-producing tenant apartment on the ground floor and an owner’s two story residence above. A wall of hurricane-resistant glass encloses the double-height living room and adjacent dining and kitchen area.  An open, sculptural fireplace is a focal point of the interior.

Above is a master bedroom suite with the master bath overlooking the two-story volume and sharing the vista across the water. An automatic overhead glass door protects an enclosed porch from the elements in inclement weather. Located off the master bedroom, this indoor/ outdoor space provides a refuge with tremendous vistas year round.

PHI National Headquarters

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This five-floor, 40,000 square foot interior encompasses the offices, workshops, training areas and technology centers for three independent, but programmatically linked organizations: PHI, ICS & CHCA. Delivering high-quality care to the disabled constituents they serve, the users required a space especially suited to the unique needs of each organization.

The design provides distinct elements to make each floor, which is dedicated to a specific organization, unique. Elements common to each, such as cafés and lounges provide a sense of coherence across the build-out. Located in the top floors of a 14-story building, low walls and glass partitions provide natural light and views outdoors from essentially every office or workstation.

Awards and Publications:
2013       New York Real Estate Journal, “Michielli + Wyetzner designs new space for three not for profits”, July 2013

Watermill Center

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The Watermill Center is a 20,000 square foot collaborative performing arts workshop under the directorship of the renowned theater artist Robert Wilson. Th building includes workshops, performance rehearsal spaces, artist’s residences, and dining facilities. Located on a large wooded lot in Southampton, New York, the center also includes outdoor spaces for performances and exhibiting sculpture.  Michielli + Wyetzner Architects’ work to renovate the existing structure includes a new corrugated zinc exterior enclosure designed with custom welded aluminum plate window surrounds and extensive site design. The interiors are serene and spare, designed for a number of uses dedicated to the creation and experience of art.

Awards and Publications:
2006       Interior Design, “The Idea Mill”, Sept. 06
2006       New York Sun, “In the Summertime, Go Where the Money Is”, July 10, 2006
2004       East Hampton Star “New Art Center’s Fits and Starts” by Jennifer Landes

NoHo Loft

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The design of this 2,000 square foot loft in Greenwich Village for a couple in media and advertising business required a flexible condition that could accommodate the owners’ four teenage children when home from college and also retain the couple’s privacy. Located in a former industrial textile loft from the 19th Century, a series of moveable glass panels provides privacy for the master bedroom from the sitting/media room while allowing natural light to enter deep into the space. When not required, the panels slide away to create an expanded master suite. A sleeping loft was inserted above the closets and master bathroom to act as the visiting children’s dormitory. The black kitchen surround was inserted into the existing brick and tin-ceilinged envelope creating a focus for the public living area.

H20 Restaurant and Lounge

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H2O restaurant is the key component of a complete renovation of a 7,800 square- foot building on the plaza level of the Waterside Plaza complex on the East River and 25th Street in Manhattan. A two-thousand square-foot commercial kitchen serves a 100-seat dining room that can be combined with the adjacent community room for larger gatherings. A back-lit interior glass wall with a custom-designed honeycomb interlayer is transparent when viewed frontally, but when viewed from oblique angles has the effect of looking through water.

NYU Medical Center Courtyard

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2011 Winner of American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award, the 6,000 square foot NYU Langone Medical Center Courtyard is bounded on all four sides by existing medical center building and sits above an existing complex of basement laboratories. MWA and landscape architect Joanna Pertz, designed a new elevated planting bed above the only section of the courtyard situated over earth to be the focus of the space. Two existing marble lion sculptures bookend the planter where birch trees, mondo grass and ferns are clustered on the south end of the planter that gives way to a mounded lawn at the north that enjoys direct sunlight. Precast concrete steps wrap three sides of the planter. Along with a row of black granite benches opposite an informal seating area is created for people to gather and relax. New wood table seating occupies the zone to the south of the courtyard creating an outdoor extension of the adjacent interior café. A line of large-scaled dish planters with perennials and birch trees masks the solid stone facade at the west. Gray precast concrete pavers provide a sense of scale for the courtyard with a beach stone border acting as a transition to the surrounding facades.

Awards and Publications:
2012       ASLA Design Merit Award

Bridgehampton House

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This 8,000 square foot vacation home for a retired business executive and his artist wife realizes their wish for a warm, comfortable, and modern environment, where children and grandchildren could visit, while still ensuring the couple’s privacy. Located on the east end of Long Island, the house sits on a 3.5-acre site on the banks of a wetland creek, which flows out to the ocean nearby.

The home’s two rectangular volumes form an outdoor landscaped court with a swimming pool as the focus.  The main wing includes the couple’s sleeping quarters on the upper level with the living, dining, and kitchen and screened porch on the ground level. The smaller volume contains guest bedrooms and a with a small living and kitchen facilities.

A two-story glazed entrance separates the two wings, providing privacy for both the owners and their guests.  The narrow, linear plan maximizes the amount of natural light and ventilation entering each room, all of which have two exposures. The projecting second floor balconies and the louvered wood sunshades control the amount of direct southern sun entering the house.  A post and beam structural system made of Brazilian hardwood, Demarrera Greenheart, maximizes the clear spans and allows interior walls to be used solely for partitioning space. The exposed framing and infill panels modulate and order the interiors. Demarrera Greenheart was also used as the exterior cladding because of its natural beauty and its ability to weather well in the harsh salt air environment.

Awards and Publications:
2001       New American Houses 2, Edizione L’ Archivolto
2001      The Perfect Room, Rockport Publishers

Lehman College Amphitheater

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Situated near the college’s principal south entrance and adjacent to the campus’s primary north-south circulation route, the design of a new amphitheater for Lehman College converts an underutilized plaza into a fully-supported multi-use outdoor theater for 120 spectators. The design concept is to sensitively integrate the spectator seating into a gently sloping extension of campus landscaping which focuses on a stage backdrop that is unified with, and elevates the existing architecture.
Terraces with board-formed architectural concrete retaining walls and stone seating are merged with a gently sloping ramp which provides access to seating areas and an accessible route to the adjacent Speech & Theater Building. To provide both a backdrop for the stage and permit views out of the ground floor spaces in the adjacent building, a field of closely grouped steel columns provides a porous and sculptural barrier. The network of 3” stainless steel columns spaced roughly two feel apart, will screen the existing building and provide a unique background to light and inhabit. Actors will be able to move within the ten-foot depth of the screen. Provisions will be made for the support of additional scrims and scenery.
Over-stage lighting will be supported by slender steel tubes cantilevered from the soffit of the existing building. Additionally, two platforms will be provide locations for light fixtures positioned in front of the stage. Infrastructure will be in place for easy hook-up of sound boards and projectors.
In addition to hosting various theater programs, screenings, and concerts, the new landscape creates an inviting space for students and professors to informally gather and relax during the day.

Hauppague Public Library

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(Currently in design)

The proposed design for the permanent home for the Hauppauge Public Library directly reflects the community’s desire for a modest, economical structure which is closely connected to nature. The design integrates the building massing with the surrounding landscaping by keeping all functions on one floor, in a long, low mass sitting below the existing canopy of trees that will seem to have grown up from within the wooded site.

The s-shaped floor plan encloses two outdoor courtyards that will permit daylight to enter the building from the north and south and establish a focus for the interior spaces. The north courtyard serves as the entrance from the west parking area. A bridge-like path will cross a water garden, immediately indicating that one is entering a special place. The water will be a link to its life-giving, restorative associations, to the site’s location at the source of two north-south rivers and to the name Hauppauge -“Land of Sweet Water”. The water garden will also function as a teaching tool to demonstrate an environmentally sensitive approach to retaining rainwater and returning wastewater to the ground. The south courtyard is contiguous with the virginal wooded, eastern portion of the site. From the interior, library visitors will use the south courtyard for reading and other passive activities and as a route to garden paths through the trees.

The entrance leads to an open lobby/display area with adjacent circulation, public computers, and periodical seating areas. This will be part of a continuous zone of open public space which will be the connective thread through the library. A series of spaces will unfold as patrons meander through the building. From any space in the library, patrons will be able to see directly into the courtyards and to the north and south gardens, and be able to take note of the weather, time of day and colors of the seasons—giving them a direct connection to the natural world.

Plan Layout

Three primary user groups will be identified with the three wings of the structure. The quiet adult reading area will be located in a rectangular zone to the North. The central bay will house the young adult reading area and the children’s area will occupy a more free-form volume to the South. Each of the three major user spaces will have a unique quality. The adult area will have a long-span roof structure that will permit column-free flexibility for future changes of use. The young adult area will have open table seating area and a semi-enclosed living-room like space with lounge seating and flat panel screens. The children’s room will be the most colorful and dynamic space, with curving walls enclosing a large program area, columns partitioning space for older children, and a ramp down to a sunken play and story time area for the youngest children.

Support spaces, including a large community meeting room and staff areas will border the public user areas. Bathrooms, mechanical rooms, music/video rooms and other support spaces will occupy a compact, linear volume along the East edge of the site. The staff will occupy a bar of space stretching North-South along the west façade with open-view corridors to the children’s and young adult areas. The multi-use meeting room will be located near the entrance and have access to the South courtyard.

A palette of natural materials is proposed for the interiors. Mahogany window frames and natural wood wall panels will add warmth and color. A living wall, proposed at the building entrance will bring a field of plant materials into the building adding color and texture as well as increasing the interior air quality. Architectural concrete will serve as the building’s structure as well as a robust finish material. Most of the raised-flooring will be covered with carpet tiles.

The Library’s Exterior

The horizontal, moss-green glazed brick walls of the exterior volume will blend in with the existing tree canopy on the site. The East and West elevations have few windows so that the interior is protected from the glare from low sun angles. Low planters will breakdown the scale of the wall surface and introduce planting above grade level. The planters will continue beyond the edges of the library and enclose gardens on the north and south of the building. The garden walls will be another way to tie the building to the landscape while separating it from the adjacent roadway and parking lots.

The north and south elevations will have low planter walls and be fully-glazed above, allowing transparent connections between the interior and exterior. The garden walls enclose outdoor rooms which will be experienced as extensions of the interior. The concrete roof parapet on the north and south walls will have scuppers sculpted into them to highlight the path of rain water collected on the roof as it flows down and moves to basins where it will be collected for irrigation or returned to the soil.

Scuppers with rain chains will also be introduced in the courtyards. They will be smaller in size and be coordinated with recessed text in the concrete parapet which will wrap the two courtyards. The text will be another opportunity to accentuate the uniqueness of this place in Hauppauge. Text proposals to be considered might include the following quote from Simeon Wood’s A History of Hauppauge, Long Island, New York (1920):

“Humanity, like water, is ever in motion. The babbling brooks of Hauppauge still
wind their way to the silent Nissequogue, whose waters ceaselessly flow to mingle
with the vast and mighty ocean”.

The design team’s intent is to make the project as uniquely Hauppaugian as possible and to reflect the Library Board and the community’s goal that the new building support the Library’s mission to serve locally yet reach globally.

Mastics Moriches Shirley Community Library

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The Mastics, Moriches, Shirley community’s design challenge was to craft a new 60,000 square- foot library that does not overwhelm its natural, park-like setting. The site is located within a former 100- acre golf course that will be developed as a community park with active and passive uses. To reduce the impact of the building, MWA proposed a single-story structure that uses earth berms to permit the surrounding meadow to rise over the roof of the building, providing continuity to the park. The result is a solution that shapes and is shaped by the landscape being completely unified with it.

Patrons cross through a wooded buffer of remnant pine barrens, which separates the parking area from the building’s three entry courtyards- one for the main adult library entrance, a second dedicated to the teen / children’s library, and a third for the multi-use community spaces. The community rooms are grouped in a zone separated from the secure area of the library for access after-hours.

The reading areas for each constituent group line the glazed southern perimeter of the structure. This edge follows the shoreline of an expansive lake, providing exceptional views of the water and distant landscape, connecting it in spirit to the community’s unique natural resources- namely the Smith Point County Park Beach and the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.   The building’s layout supports the Library’s mission is to be a place of growth, discovery and life-long learning.

Awards and Publications:
2018       AIA Long Island Chapter- Commendation, Unbuilt 

Pre-Fab House

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This design for a 2,000 square foot, two to three bedroom house is one in a series of collaborations between practicing architects and artists and a German modular building manufacturer. With the goal of creating zero-energy buildings, the project uses modular stud-wall panel construction and exterior zinc cladding to create homes for couples or small families. The cube volume is vertically divided with two enclosed floors and an open roof terrace. Entry stairs lead to the second floor, which contains the living, dining and kitchen spaces. The abstract quality of the Platonic solid is enhanced by the simple void of the double-volume living area that cuts through the cube. Immediately above is a roof garden accessed by a glass-enclosed circular stair that connects all levels of the house. Study and bedrooms are on the first floor.  The strength of the scheme is based on the geometry of the pure exterior form and the proportion of the primary interior space. The compact modular design will be energy efficient, cost effective and efficiently flat-packed for delivery.

Rolltop Observatory

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The Turner Farm roll-top observatory building will include an orientation room for presentations and the study of sky charts as well as a 700 square foot observatory room housing four permanently mounted telescopes. The lightweight, folded-plate roof structure of the observatory room is moveable and rolls open, exposing the observatory to the night sky. Earth berms around the observatory room minimize the mass of the structure and protect the concrete retaining wall from heat gain so that disruption of viewing by thermal currents in the evening is minimized.  A simple, low maintenance material palette is used throughout, including poured-in-place concrete, ground-faced concrete block, and stained plywood millwork. This will be the first of a series of projects constructed at Turner Farm, an astronomy museum and study center and an international sundial garden will follow the completion of the rolltop.

Observatory Park

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Observatory Park is a six-acre astronomy park and complex in Great Falls, Virginia, which will include an education/museum building, a planetarium, a roll-top observatory and a sundial garden. The education building will house a lecture hall, classrooms, a library, a sundial-building workshop and a museum space for didactic displays and historical objects related to astronomy as well as the site’s use during the Cold War by the Defense Mapping Agency.

Located in a residential neighborhood, the building will be set into the ground to reduce its bulk and retain the park-like quality of the site. The museum building can be either entered from above, through a glass pavilion that will enclose the dome of the planetarium, or, via a ramp into a sunken courtyard. The 40,000 square foot education building is earth-sheltered on the south and west sides. The north and east elevations are gradually exposed as the park slopes down to the northeast. A green roof continues the plane of the sundial garden that covers the site. The building will include a number of sustainable design features and the landscape design will use a variety of local plants and low-maintenance field grasses.

Italian-American Cultural Center

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This competition entry for a new Italian-American Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, was based on the importance of the garden as it contributes to the cultural identity of many Italian immigrants and their descendants.

The massing of the building is designed so that the bulk of the structure is weighted to the rear of the site to provide large areas for gardens and outdoor gathering spaces along the street. A terra cotta sunscreen, which has been designed to maximize the introduction of controlled natural light into the building, will enclose the second floor. This screen will be animated by the movement of the sun so that the shade and shadow it produces will change as the day progresses. The program includes a full-size gymnasium, counseling and study room and a swimming pool.

Temple Beth-Am, Reform Synagogue

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To enhance community visibility and attract new members, Temple Beth-Am commissioned Michielli + Wyetzner Architects to design an addition to update the image of its existing structure and provide new facilities for celebrations and community functions.  The new 7,000 square foot addition will house a ballroom on the main level and classrooms for the Hebrew school and pre-school on the lower level. The project will also include a new entrance and the renovation of the existing 1960’s building designed by Percival Goodman.  Lit in the evening, the glass-enclosed ballroom will be a glowing presence in the community, unifying the disparate pieces of the existing facility. The glass will be treated with a leaf patterned ceramic frit that reduces solar heat gain and forms an integral decoration that is consistent with its palm house aesthetic and traditional Judaic symbols.  Similar materials and details will be used to create a new, open and inviting entrance and plaza which will be seen from the main thoroughfare along Merrick Avenue.

Taipei Pop Music Center

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Submitted in response to the RFP issued by the R.O.C. government of Taiwan for a new pop music center, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects’ design is a cloud-like nebulous form that is designed to change and grow with the natural development of the city while meeting the rapidly changing demands of the pop music industry. The framework of the design is an armature that supports an infrastructure built to serve various types of public events by lantern-like, multi-function cubes assembled on the roof place above. The solution of a tractable infrastructure allows elements to be added or subtracted. The design is pliable and scalable; it can be altered to meet specific project needs, budgets, and schedules.

Air Force Village Chapel

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This proposal for the Air Force Village Chapel competition is composed of four independent pavilions that are similarly unified in purpose and common goals. The design satisfies the need for communal worship while at the same time providing places for independent contemplation and inspiration. The design concept begins with an investigation of the threshold; the passage from the outer, secular realm of everyday lives to an inner, sacred space that is the place for individual devotion and communal worship. Traditionally, this threshold is not much thicker than the door above it: here we see this passageway as an expansive garden with the chapel at its center. The path through the garden makes us aware that we’re entering a special place, one where the quotidian gives way to the divine. The chapel is conceived of as a series of pavilions; their spaces designed to give the feeling of clearings in a forest, of calm amidst the unknown. Protected and uplifting, these rooms are defined by the densely planted, indigenous southern Texas landscaping surrounding them. The garden – the threshold – mediates between the secular realm and sacred one. All the pavilions – the Narthex, the Sanctuary, the Multi-Faith Chapel and the Blessed Sacrament – will have glass walls and be set directly into the lush, densely planted landscape, drawing nature into the sphere of the divine. The slim, steel columns that support the roofs will echo the trees outside. The ceilings and roof are composed of cloud-like transparent membranes that will filter daylight and in the evening, when lit from within, have the glow of a lantern.

Big Mountain

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IN COLLABORATION WITH GILDAY ARCHITECTS. Located in downtown Jackson, this 20,000 square foot mixed-use infill building includes residential retail and office space. Each of the three top-floor apartments opens onto a private terrace. A skylight in the central courtyard permits natural light to enter the center of the 140 foot long open office floor on the second level. A moveable mahogany screen, supported by standard hanger-door hardware, protects the south-facing spaces from direct sun and provides open views of the mountains.

Hotel Quito

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This renovation and expansion master plan for the Hotel Quito envisions this 1950’s modernist hotel as the core of an “urban resort” in downtown Quito, Ecuador. The goal of the plan is to recapture the tourist and business market and become a destination for city residents.  To do so, the complex will provide high-quality living, shopping, work, health and recreation facilities, most significantly a new 60,000-square-foot residential tower and a new 40,000-square-foot office building on the ten-acre site.  The enlarged complex builds on the original design of the late Edward Durrell Stone, who sited the hotel with sweeping views overlooking a mountainous landscape and downtown Quito.  The expanded complex will also offer a much wider variety of amenities including a casino, underground parking for 500 cars, three new ballrooms, a new health club and spa, and outdoor pool, gardens and recreational facilities.  Curved single-pane glass is proposed to create an undulating transparent enclosure for the new residential tower and mixed-use building that continues the spirit of Stone’s original design. The massing of the tower will conclude a row of upscale residential towers that line this ridge of the city. Visible from all directions, the sculptural form of the glass tower will be a focal point in the city.   The climate of Quito is consistently mild year round so that minimal mechanical equipment is necessary for heating and air conditioning. The new buildings are designed to make the best use of natural ventilation and passive solar control.  The complex will be up-to-date both in its facilities and systems efficiency.

The Museum of Modern Art Film Archive

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David Brody Bond, LLP

The Museum of Modern Art’s film collection, the largest private collection in the world, contains material that is highly sensitive to airborne pollutants and can potentially combust spontaneously. Therefore, a separate facility was required to house the collection independently from New York City home. Located on 37 acres of woodland and meadow in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, this 33,000 square foot, the two-building compound is a simple and functional design with an industrial palette of materials. Building 1 contains the vaults for storing acetate or safety film, a preservation laboratory, offices and conference rooms. Because of the strict environmental requirements for archiving film, the design was conceived as a building within a building. Circulation is located on the perimeter to provide a thermal buffer between the low humidity, low temperature vaults and the varying conditions of the outside air. This 55 degree buffer reduces the work load of the heating and air conditioning units, providing substantial energy savings to the institution. Long-span trusses provide the necessary space for a thermal break above the vaults and allow for program flexibility below. Building 2 houses the nitrate cellulose film collection in 42 poured-in-place concrete storage vaults. This film was produced prior to 1950 and, due to its chemical volatility, is governed by strict National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. Each vault is constructed of four-hour, fire-rated poured-in-place concrete and contains an explosion panel and deluge sprinkler protection.

Valeo Technical Center

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

This 120,000 square foot technical center for a French automobile components manufacturer in suburban Detroit houses two formerly separate corporate divisions within a single building. Two levels of open office area allow for a flexible arrangement or integrated project teams consisting of project management, sales, design and testing staffs. Transparent glass walls, detailed for acoustic control, permit project team members to be in close proximity to the double volume testing laboratory. Towers containing shared conference rooms punctuate the office and lab areas, which further integrate teams of designers with lab technicians. The glazed double-volume testing lab is visible from the street, satisfying the owner’s objective to publicly display the primary function of the facility.

An exhibit area highlighting new products and a full-size vehicle is located in a glass cube entrance lobby adjacent to other non-secure program elements such as conference rooms and the cafeteria. Horizontal aluminum sunshades on the south and west protect the interior from glare and direct solar gain. The building’s design reflects not only the materials of the products made by Valeo, but also qualities such as transparency, efficiency, and collaboration that are hallmarks of the company. The building received the National AIA Excellence in Design Award and the Business Week / Architectural Record Award in 2000 for being exemplary of the positive effects that a good design can have on productivity and employee satisfaction.

Ford Engineering Design Center

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LEED Certified Silver

Davis Brody Bond, LLP

The new Ford Engineering Design Center is a 75,000 square foot addition to Northwestern University’s McCormick Engineering School. It is a facility for teaching collaborative and creative multi-disciplinary work skills addressing the full spectrum of design themes in the school’s undergraduate, graduate and professional curricula. The building contains flexible laboratory, classroom and project spaces for pedagogical design activities.

A linear atrium is the central organizing element, which contains the three above-grade levels of teaching space. Glass stair treads, glass railings and glass bridges in the sky-lit atrium allow natural light to penetrate all levels. The cast-in-place concrete frame structure is exposed; wood panels and wood windows add richness and warmth to the interior. The north end of the atrium is connected by a bridge to the existing academic facility’s second level. Next to the building’s entrance, landscaped terraces step from grade down to basement level, allowing natural light and views into a two-story shop area. Student models and experiments are assembled and displayed in this shop, which can be viewed from the street and the atrium’s first floor. The shop’s prominent location reflects the importance of the creative process and the collaborative spirit of the work being done within the building. The building is detailed to be a teaching tool that subtly exposes the building’s structure and mechanical systems. Registered for LEED Silver certification, the building has a green roof, an under floor displacement air system and a sun tracking device that controls automatic sunshades and lighting levels. A monitoring panel in the entrance lobby allows students to view the building’s systems and energy consumption.

One significant design challenge was to develop an image for the Ford Center that reflected the creative, high-tech work being developed there while making sure the structure fit seamlessly within the context of the existing collegiate gothic campus. This solution matches the scale of the neighboring buildings by keeping the height low, divides the massing into distinct volumes and details the transparent glass curtain wall to achieve a rich, vertical rhythm. The Design Center is clad in limestone to match the adjacent structures.

East Hampton Rec Center

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

This 22,000 square foot recreation and community center for the East Hampton Youth Alliance serves as a central gathering place for recreational and cultural activities and as an indoor pool facility for much-needed swim instruction for youths of this community surrounded by water.  Within the center, visitors will find a fitness area, multi-purpose room, cyber café, six-lane competition swimming pool and a toddler/therapy pool.  A series of ramps and terraced landings in the main loft-like interior separate different program areas and create a dynamic environment where participants can view the center’s diverse activities. Skylights, which allow natural light to penetrate the entire space, follow the diagonal path of the primary ramp, accentuating the separation of the fitness area from the tech lounge.

The cedar clad design recalls traditional Long Island agricultural structures, particularly in its simple massing, open-loft interior, and matter-of-fact exposed wood-frame construction techniques. The Center’s primary volume is structured by large-scale, balloon-framed bearing walls composed of 3 x 10 Douglas Fir studs set two feet on center.  Natural wood finishes are also used on screen walls, railings and ceilings further giving the interior texture and a warm, natural quality. Low maintenance, durable materials such as ceramic tile and ground-face concrete block enclose the pool and locker areas.  The Rec Center is an active and dynamic space which serves its purpose as a clubhouse for youths and a well- populated resource for the entire community.

Joseph J. and Violet J. Jacobs Building

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

As a major component of Polytechnic University’s plan to consolidate its academic programs at its Brooklyn campus, the Joseph J. and Violet J. Jacobs Building was designed as an addition to Rogers Hall, the campus’s primary academic building. The 86,000 square foot facility contains five levels of academic space that includes lecture halls, science laboratories, engineering studio-classrooms and computer labs. In addition to increasing academic space, this project also satisfies the university’s desire to develop student life amenities by adding a fully-equipped athletic center on a campus with few available building sites. This design places a NCAA regulation gymnasium on street level below the academic floors and locates locker rooms and fitness spaces on the basement level. Above the gym, a courtyard allows abundant natural light to the academic floors that connect seamlessly with the existing structure. A three-story lobby provides access to all spaces and provides a new entrance to the university from a major street in downtown Brooklyn. Used for displays and as a break-out space for the multi-purpose gymnasium, the lobby is perfectly scaled to the university campus and at night is a glowing beacon that establishes a new public face for the school.

Eskind Biomedical Library

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

The 80,000 square foot Eskind Biomedical Library at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center was designed to be a focal point of the Medical Center Campus and a link to the traditional Vanderbilt campus. We accomplished that goal by massing the building in response to the different scales of the two campuses, and by creating outdoor spaces to allow for a continuous flow of exterior space. The print collection and staff functions are housed in a clearly organized, compact rectangular volume. Small group study rooms, core elements and other support spaces are located in a protective zone along the south wall. Reading and study areas are located on three levels in an open area filled with natural light. Enclosed by a north-facing 52-foot transparent glass wall, study carrels, tables and lounge seating areas have views to a landscaped campus. Bridges cross a four-story atrium that connect reading and stack areas, and skylights allow indirect light to penetrate the building. The linear atrium, detailed with cherry wood surrounds, opens the building making it easy to orient oneself in the multi-story structure. The fourth floor, also connected to the atrium, is the new Center for Informatics, used for research and training in the application of information technology to the health sciences. The design of the building reflects both the dynamic nature of the continued introduction of new technology and the inviting qualities of a traditional library. The project received the AIA/ American Library Association Award of Excellence Award in 1999, and the AIA New York State Excellence in Design Award in 1995.

Harlem Children’s Zone

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a not-for-profit community outreach organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for children and families in some of New York City’s most devastated neighborhoods. Founded in 1970, HCZ has centers throughout Harlem, intentionally developing programs in neighborhoods where other agencies are not located and poor children and families have no one, or even a place to turn for help. Located on 125th Street in Manhattan, this new 92,000 square foot brick and glass building houses the Promise Academy Charter School, adult education programs and the headquarter offices for the entire HCZ organization. The two upper floors house the executive offices and adult education programs, while the middle three floors contain the school classrooms and offices. The ground floor contains a cafeteria and commercial kitchen, meeting rooms, a school library as well as two lobbies to accommodate the different user groups for the building. The basement of the six-story structure contains a new two-story high, full court gymnasium with locker facilities and music rooms. With views from the sidewalk and the ground floor cafeteria, the gym is intended to be used by the school for athletics as well as by the community for events such as lectures and dances. Because the building is inhabited by different user groups and is used throughout the day and night, spaces are designed to be multi-functional, with large storage closets and materials that are low-maintenance and highly durable.

14th Street Residence Hall

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Davis Brody Bond, LLP

Located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan this twenty-story, 210,000 square foot dormitory contains 172 suites for 620 students. Amenities include a sky-lit dining hall that seats 300 people, a full commercial kitchen, study spaces, meeting rooms, exercise room and a street level cafe. The university asked for a plan with generous natural light that maximizes the number of undergraduate beds. The architects created apartment-style suites, each containing two 2-person bedrooms, a living area, bathroom and kitchen, all within a 700 square foot footprint. Configured around a central courtyard garden, each suite provides natural light to bedrooms and living rooms.  The sky lit dining room uses fritted glass to filter the direct sun while providing views to the surrounding exterior garden. Wood panels line the walls to create a warm and rich environment. Materials such as terrazzo, stainless steel, and glass make the facility low-maintenance and highly durable. According to the New York Times, graduating students are reluctant to leave the comfort of this well-appointed living facility, “with a glass-roofed dining hall design that rivals any hip restaurant.” (“Dorm Destiny: Design too Good to Leave,” May 13, 1999.)

Othmer Residence Hall

Written by

Davis Brody Bond, LLP

The new Othmer Residence Hall is a critical element in Polytechnic University’s expansion plan that provides on-campus housing for the first time in their downtown Brooklyn campus. This 400 bed dormitory is a vital component of the university’s mission to provide an active 24/7 campus for their students while opening new possibilities for improved national student recruitment. Designed as part of an expansion master plan that includes the new Jacobs Academic Building, the massing of the new tower was designed to align with the central commons area which is the focus of the campus. The primary exterior materials of glass and precast concrete are compatible with the adjacent Dibner Library and help to create a cohesive campus precinct. A clear glass curtain wall encloses elevator lobbies on each floor and provides dramatic views of Brooklyn. The twenty-story building has eight floors of double rooms dedicated to freshmen. The remaining twelve floors are suites with shared living spaces. Each floor has access to a single or double-height lounge area. The ground floor also has common study rooms, student lounges and resident advisor and campus health offices. The Othmer Residence has brought a new level of activity to the campus which adds a new component to the life of downtown Brooklyn and has helped to convert Polytechnic from a commuter school to a vital urban campus.