Design Students Learn from Cooper Union Project

About three dozen students get a hands-on look at design and construction. Also, New Jersey’s school construction agency issues a new design manual.

Cooper Union Project Site Doubles as Lab

The construction of a 175,000-sq-ft, nine-story academic building for the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan is giving design students rare exposure to architecture and engineering.

The construction and design offices are located in Cooper Union’s nearby Foundation Building, giving the 30 to 40 students in the construction observation program direct access to the project.

The $120 million project is a “unique experience for undergraduates because they are exposed to the bare bones of architecture,” says Jolene Resnick, a Cooper Union spokeswoman.

The academic laboratory facility, on which construction began in early November on Third Avenue between 6th and 7th streets, will have laboratories, studios, classrooms, lounges, a public auditorium, and a gallery. It will replace more than 40% of the academic space at the school. 

Thom Mayne of Morphosis in Santa Monica, Calif., the 2005 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, designed the new facility to qualify for gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design status. He collaborated with Gruzen Samton of New York on the design. Sciame Construction of New York is the construction manager for the project. 

The students can directly interact with the team members, including keeping in contact with Sciame throughout the process, says Clark Wieman, Cooper Union’s planning project director, who acts as the liaison between students and the project team. The students also followed the demolition of the Hewitt Building – which the new academic laboratory will replace – by tracking the removal of debris from the site to a recycling area. 

Cassandra Telenko, a 2007 School of Engineering graduate, says she attended lectures and even “skipped a few classes” to observe the construction process. The program allowed her to closely study “the details of Sciame, what the design achieves, and the intricacies involved in the project.”

Mayne says the design aims to evoke Cooper Union’s uniqueness through features such as an operable building skin made of rotating, perforated stainless steel panels, which will reduce the impact of heat radiation during the summer and insulate during the winter. An opening in the metal skin reveals the interior atrium and lounges to those walking by the building, which serves as a symbol of a flexible, open, and interactive academic building, Mayne says.

“We literally designed out from that core, always keeping in mind that a building for the Cooper Union should be as strong and innovative as the institution itself,” he adds. 

The facility’s other green features will include radiant heating and cooling ceiling panels with HVAC technology that will boost energy efficiency; a full-height atrium with a heat stack effect to improve airflow; a green roof that will harvest water to be used in toilets on the lower floors; a cogeneration plant with waste heat recovery; and a photovoltaic panel system.

 The building aims to meet the university’s goal of maximizing opportunities to unify its core study programs, which include art and professional design, says George Campbell Jr., president of the school. Campbell says the building needs to be flexible to give it opportunities to evolve with the curriculum. 

“Dissolving the boundaries between art, architecture and engineering is necessary because [not only] will it bring about more unity, but because many [research] breakthroughs are happening in the intersection,” he adds. 

N.J. Unveils Greener Design Manual

Public school design in New Jersey recently got a jolt of green thinking when the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation unveiled its revised 21st Century Schools Design Manual.

State school construction officials say they are aiming to encourage design of schools that will be more efficient and durable, while fostering a better environment for classroom learning.

Another primary focus of the new manual is to shift to a performance-driven model from a prescriptive one. The revised version focuses on the end result of new school projects, rather than on setting rigid criteria for design professionals to meet, says Dan Millen, director of architecture and engineering in the agency’s project management department.

After several years of using the agency’s original design manual, drafted in 2004, the latest version was “largely brought on by a community effort” with input from the industry, Millen says.

The new manual’s sustainable design focus may initially result in more costly designs but aims to tap long-term efficiencies. It will also help the state’s design community become more versed in green design.

The new manual calls for designs that will be 14% more efficient than standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. It will encourage integrated design and efficiency measures, such as daylighting, to reduce energy use.

“Integrated systems are more sustainable, comfortable, and durable,” Millen says. 

Rehab for Lobby in Empire State

Design work has begun on a restoration of the historic lobby at the Empire State Building in Manhattan.

Originally planned by New York’s Shreve, Lamb and Harmon as part of its design for the entire 1,252-ft-tall structure built in 1931, the Art Deco lobby has undergone several renovations that have covered up original elements. New York’s Beyer Blinder Belle is designing the restoration, which must gain approval from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The planned restoration would refurbish the original ceiling mural of a sky rendered in gold and silver leaf, which was covered in the 1960s by a hung ceiling and fluorescent lighting. In addition, original incandescent uplight fixtures will be replaced with new energy-efficient fixtures and supplemented with downlights to meet modern requirements, while highlighting the lobby’s marble walls.

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