Sept. 08, 2000


New Columbia Dorm Designed by Robert A. M. Stern Opens On Broadway

By Lauren Marshall

The New Broadway Residence Hall

The Broadway Residence Hall which consists mostly of single rooms designed in the spirit of traditionally grand Morningside Heights apartment buildings, has opened this fall to Columbia upper classmen. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, one of America's most celebrated architectural firms, the new building will house a branch of the New York Public Library and retail space at the street level.

The building design, which incorporates the façade of a historic townhouse, reflects in depth discussions with neighboring residents during Columbia's consultative design process. The result is a new building that blends well with Broadway's historic streetscape.

Fourteen stories high and 140,000 square feet, the $50-million facility, located at Broadway and 113th, contains 336 rooms (371 beds), 80 percent of which are singles. At the interior of the building, an iron-railed staircase leads from the slate-tiled lobby lounge to a ground floor lounge of Hogan Hall, an adjacent upper class residence. Furniture and fixtures designed by Stern for the building are used throughout the lobby. Student services are located on the second and third floors, including the Senior Class Center, which is designed to provide academic and career support focused on the needs of seniors, seminar/conference rooms, music practice rooms and a computer lab. All residential floors have a central student lounge wired for multiple personal computer use and a shared kitchen and shared men's and women's baths. Two penthouse lounges on the 14th floor offer space for a variety of student and University functions, with extensive views of Morningside Heights, Manhattan and beyond.

At 17,000 sq. feet, the Morningside Heights branch of the New York Public Library will be 10 times the size of the existing branch on 113th St. and will bring space and services to the neighborhood. The branch, the interior of which will be designed by Robert A.M.Stern, is located on two levels of corner space and has a separate entrance at Broadway for public access. Plans include meeting space available for community use. New York Public Library will begin construction this fall. In addition, a 6,000 sq. foot commercial space will add to the retail seen on Broadway.

"After extensive consultation with students, staff, alumni and members of the community, we have constructed a building that serves our student body as the center of upper-class student life and offers much needed library space and services to the residents of Morningside Heights," said Executive Vice President for Administration Emily Lloyd.

The building is located on a site where a bank and parking garage once stood and incorporates the façade of a five-story town house designed by George Keister (1903), known as the Sigma Chi fraternity house and once home to baseball legend and Columbia student "Lou" Gehrig. Originally slated for demolition, the Keister House façade was preserved as a result of community interest.

The Broadway Residence Hall was the first new Columbia building to fully incorporate community consultation during building design, a process that has become a part of new building development at the University.

"Before we started the design of this building, we convened a working group that included Bob Stern, University project managers, members of local resident's associations, alumni and concerned members of the community for a series of discussions on the building's design," said Emily Lloyd. "While we can't address every individual concern through this process, many suggestions can be accommodated. We think the process made the Broadway Residence Hall a better building."

In addition to the preservation of the Keister House façade, the design working group suggested a tawny-colored brick rather than Columbia's traditional red to make the building a better fit in the Broadway streetscape. Also in response to community concerns, the height of the building was reduced from 21 stories to 14, a match with other apartment buildings in the neighborhood and the library was relocated from the center of the building to the street corner.

"I'm very proud to have the opportunity to design this building at my alma mater one that shows that the University and its neighbors can work together for the greater good of the entire community," said Robert A.M. Stern.

For Carolyn Kent, preservationist, the changes in design were "a joint victory" for elected officials, members of Morningside Heights community groups and others concerned with the state of their neighborhood. In the case of Broadway Residence Hall, "Stern holds to a contextual sympathy with other buildings, down to the bottom," said Kent.

The building's slate-tiled lobby lounge

In addition to the community, the building was built with student concerns in mind. "The University had a unique opportunity to develop a residence hall which took into consideration student feedback on the type of residential programs and living setting they most desired," said Chris Colombo, dean of Student Affairs. "The building was specifically designed as a senior building in which 80 percent of the rooms are singles. The new facility will provide ample social space, lounges, meeting rooms, and the Senior Class Center."

The Broadway residence hall is the first residential hall to be built by Columbia since Schapiro Hall was completed in 1988.

Robert A. M. Stern, a Columbia alumus, is known worldwide for his elegant single and multi-family residences and is renowned for his design of numerous public and commercial buildings, including the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stock bridge, Mass.; Nashville, TN, Public Library; Darden School of Business of the University of Virginia; and GAP Headquarters, San Francisco. Stern, a scholar, historian and author of many books on architecture, is dean of the Yale School of Architecture.