Exclusive tour offers behind-the-scenes look at new Academic Building at Cooper Union, Oct. 20
The Cooper Union Academic Building
Professional Circle members enjoyed the rare opportunity to take part in an exclusive tour of the recently opened Academic Building at Cooper Union, 41 Cooper Square.
With a total size of 175,000 square feet and a budget of $155 million, the 30-month project is one of the dramatic new designs in New York in recent years.
Sciame Construction Project Executive Robert DaRos led the 15-person group inside the remarkable glass and metal structure designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis.
Elevators lined in sheets of factory conveyor belts took the group throughout the nine story building, but it is the 20-foot wide central staircase and massive accompanying sculpture that marks the heart of the dramatic concrete design.
Throughout the tour DaRos pointed out details in the innovative green building, which houses classrooms, multidiscipline labs, gallery and lounge space, an auditorium, offices, and a green roof, and was planned to achieve LEED platinum certification.
DaRos said the concrete campus was designed to create spaces that would be socially engaging for students and faculty. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, established in 1859, is among the nation’s oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher learning.
The Alumni Terrace was well suited for the beautiful fall morning, which featured one of the salvaged 22 stone eagles that once perched on the old Penn Station building before it was demolished in the 1960s. The 5,700-pound statue was installed in the corner of the terrace roof garden and faces its old Penn Station home.
The contemporary project has won numerous awards, such as New York Construction Green Building Project of the Year, 2009; American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, Creating Stellar Architecture using BIM, 2009; American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, Jury’s Choice Award, 2009; Concrete Industry Board (CIB) Annual Award, 2008; and the AIA NY Chapter Design Award, 2006.
Join us Friday Oct. 23 for our next tour, which will offer an exclusive look at beautiful Woodlawn Cemetery in the height of the fall foliage season.
Space is still available. Click here for more information.
