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 43^rd 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.

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

La Maison Franҫaise is a 19^th 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.

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.

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.

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.