The parameters were the sloping site, the choice of brick as an exterior material, the glazing system of anodized bronze aluminum, the three-story height limitation on campus elevation and the rigid programmatic and budget requirements of the New York State Dormitory Authority.

The residential complex houses 800 students, faculty advisors and a faculty master. The dining facility can provide food service for the residential complex as well as for commuter students. Academic and student activity areas are integrated into both facilities. The U-shaped building complex encloses a major outdoor space which is open-ended to the south, providing a transition between the natural environment of the meadow and the formal discipline of the campus plan.

The two main gateways to the complex are from the commuter student parking lot and from the south end of the academic campus. The entry elevation is a berm, one level above natural grade, which makes it possible for the building to step down a full floor as the grade lowers, and for the horizontal roof height to remain constant while the building changes from three to four stories. The berm also allows for the major existing trees to be retained.

The dormitory organizes student accommodations into eight groups, with four main entrance points off the berm elevation which houses the lobby, a seminar room and a common room. Each floor unit of 20 includes several types of rooms: four, six and eight person suites, corridor doubles and singles and a public floor lounge. Circulation on each level is restricted to the zone between stairs and entry points. A continuous enclosed horizontal corridor is provided at the lower level to facilitate service and to allow indoor circulation throughout the complex during inclement weather.

The dining facility is entered from the berm walk and is serviced on the lower level. Student activity spaces occupy the entrance level and second floor and surround the upper portion of the main dining space. Food is served on the lower level, which opens out to the meadow. Dining spaces can accommodate 15, 50, 100 and 200 persons.

The major building elements were designed to respond to the various contextual forces that surround the site. The east facade addresses the Inner Harbor by establishing the building’s core and base as a visual termination of the existing street wall. The cantilevered office floors are rotated slightly to reinforce the intersection of the two major inner harbor boulevards.

The south face is set back from the surrounding townhouses to provide a public plaza. To the west, views of the existing church are maintained and the introduction of brick masonry on the west wall completes the material connection. The roof terrace and penthouse create an urban silhouette and further reinforce the scale and articulation of the building’s components.

A convex entrance welcomes the public and allows light deep into the atrium at ground level, making the transition from external to internal virtually imperceptible. Laboratory wings contain research laboratories grouped into units of ten. The tenfold modular is designed for maximum efficiency and flexibility and facilitates mechanical and utility reconfigurations. At ground level, the skylighted atrium covers the main entrance/circulation space; and at second level, the public gymnasium. At third and fourth levels, laboratory facades are pierced by windows that overlook the atriums and allow natural light into research units. Views from laboratory windows across to opposite wings, below to public spaces enhance a sense of community and create a collegial atmosphere.

The design evolved from precise and extensive technical criteria and provides climate controlled spaces for multiple medical and recreational functions. Public and private domains are expressed and separated through the manipulation of natural light and by solid/void relationships.

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Designed on a mid-block, street fronting site, the parabolic segmented courtyard with its surrounding covered arcades extends the landscaped entry sequence, from the sidewalk, through the fountain/reflecting pool front yard, under the open east/west bridge connecting the two wings, to the two story entry lobby.

The sequence is reinforced by a grid of sixteen ficus trees, initiated at the sidewalk and continuing as an allée through the courtyard, which is the central referential space in the building.

The materials, grey-green granite, blue-green glass, aluminum and titanium panels, further articulate the hierarchical massing, extending the formal object/frame strategy of the David Geffen Foundation Building.

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The typical tower floor plates average 33,000 square feet with lease spans ranging from 40 to 55 feet. The total building holds 970,000 square feet above grade and over 300 parking spaces in two below-grade levels. The design employs bonus floor area by including public areas at the plaza level.

The structure is clad primarily in glass and steps back progressively from the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 33rd Street with a clear base, shaft and top composition. This strategy creates a signature public presence and brings increased daylight to the landscaped entry plaza below, while increasing the number of corner offices within the tower.

At street level a stone paving pattern composes the plaza into a grid with trees and benches which in turn surround a retail arcade. The development of this generous public space transforms the railroad easement into an extension of the 34th Street Business Improvement District and anticipates the increased pedestrian activity that will arrive with the rejuvenated Penn Station on its new site immediately across Ninth Avenue.

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The building includes classrooms, faculty and student offices, a swimming pool, gymnasium and ancillary athletic spaces, a 1000-seat proscenium theater, a 350-seat repertory theater, faculty and students dining facilities, a campus store, an art gallery and studios.

The Grand Concourse facade reinforces the built edge, establishes a gateway to the college, and together with the original campus structure defines an outdoor courtyard. The new tower and pedestrian bridge linking existing campus buildings serve as visual icons, establishing a sense of place and a new image for the campus and the community.

The building contains many departments with diverse and varied functions. As a unifying design strategy it is organized around a five-story skylit atrium. Articulated horizontally with balconies and vertically with stairs, the atrium is the major public space on the campus. It is the primary internal circulation volume of the new building as well as providing lobby space for both repertory and proscenium theaters and access to the bridge.

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The second through fourth floors contain the administration and faculty offices for six departments within the Social Sciences division: Latin American studies, sociology, urban studies, political science, anthropology and ethnic studies.

The exterior is clad in a combination of white and black ceramic tile and light grey stucco, with accent walls and columns in powder-coated aluminum panels. Railings and miscellaneous metal trim are brushed stainless steel.

The operable window system combines jalousies with integral louvers, frosted glass clerestories, and reflective glass view windows, forming a composite environmental wall system. Ceiling fans and operable transoms over the doors reinforce cross-ventilation.

Associate Architect: Brown Gimber Rodriguez Park

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The five-story rotunda, whose exterior marks a visual and literal edge to the University of Iowa’s Performing Arts Campus, anchors the complex and acts as its main public meeting and circulation space. This primary reception lobby integrates numerous works of art by faculty, students and local artists. It is circled by a ceremonial stair and cantilevered bridges that create a promenade, leading visitors to the public assembly spaces located at the top of the building—typically a site for executive offices.

A double-height, circular boardroom with a terrace “sits” on the rotunda. This flexible space, capped by an inverted dome, is finished in cherry and features concentric, custom-designed conference tables. Divisible by acoustic panels into three separate spaces, the boardroom can be linked to the adjacent entertainment room, which implements sophisticated audiovisual systems.

The top floor of the building’s bar element contains three major assembly halls, two roof terraces and a staff dining hall. The sculptural forms of these rooms distinguish their public functions from the three floors of administrative offices below and define a “cornice” to the arts campus.

Named for two of the university’s most generous benefactors, the Levitt Center for University Advancement houses the University’s Foundation, Alumni Association, and Division of Alumni Records and Services. It provides a central focus for all of the University’s advancement-related activities: fund raising, alumni communications and outreach, student recruitment, public relations, economic development and legislative liaison.

Associate Architect: Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering

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The Iowa Institute for Biomedical Discovery (IIBD) is the third building of the Biomedical Research Center on the University of Iowa Health Science Campus. The new facility will house laboratories and office space dedicated to cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research in the biomedical and life sciences, involving scientists from across the entire campus. It is part of a larger university effort to bring together scientists from multiple disciplines to pursue research leading to new treatments for patients, create new educational opportunities for students, and bolster Iowa’s economy through new jobs and business partnerships.
The focus of this ten level 210,000 square-foot structure will be interdisciplinary research in the broad areas of neuroscience, aging and regenerative medicine. It will also provide advanced imaging capabilities for humans and large animals. The facility includes wet research laboratories, office space, vivarium, meeting spaces, café and support facilities.
Together with the two earlier buildings of the Biomedical Research Center, the new building forms a “U” plan configuration, overlooking the University campus. Closing the “U” and defining a new quadrangle is an open “cloister” walkway below an enclosed 220 foot long second level walkway connection containing a linear exhibition gallery. The “cloister” also provides a backdrop for a memorial reflection garden honoring the donor of the previous building that occupied the site and allows both interaction and connection with the entire researcher community.
The complex’s existing material pallet of buff colored Iowa limestone, grey blue granite, green patinated copper, and metallic grey aluminum window framing with glass and panel infill is maintained in the IIBD building. Facing the campus, the east façade presents an iconic reference, articulated by vertical bay windows and a deep cornice created by a recessed roof terrace. It defines the new image of the Center and further reinforces the presence and identity of the complex.