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2007 – 2016
Serge Drouin as Associate Architect at Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Status: Completed
Location: New York City, USA
Client: Columbia University
Design: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Antoine Chaaya Partner, Serge Drouin Associate, in collaboration with Davis Brody Bond LLP and Body-Lawson Associates
Consultants: AECOM; WSP Group; Arup; Cerami; Tillotson Design Associates; Jenkins & Huntington; Front, Inc.; Stantec; Simpson Gumpertz Hegel, e4; James Corner Field Operations; Aggleton & Associates; Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers; The Clarient Group; VJ Associates; Pentagram
Program: Academic, Research Lab
Area: 450,000 SF
Program and Design Concept
The Jerome L. Greene Science Center is a neuroscience research facility designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The shimmering 9–story glass tower is dedicated to state-of-the-art brain research and houses the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, led by world-renowned scientists including Nobel Prize laureates Eric Kandel and Richard Axel.
“The Jerome L. Greene Science Center is absolutely critical for the future of brain science at Columbia University and in a broader sense for brain science in the United States. This Greene Science Center has put Columbia into a unique position to make a major set of contributions to understanding the brain and its disorders.” Eric Kandel, Nobel Laureate
The ground floor is transparent and porous, accessible to the public. It is the first expression of the masterplan concept of “Urban Layer”: an accessible space shared with the community, reinforcing the urbanity of the new campus. It is filled with carefully chosen public functions: education lab, community clinic, café, gym, rock climbing, and exhibit spaces related to the scientific explorations conducted in the labs above.
The layout of the building facilitates collaboration and the exchange of ideas between the various departments. The building contains extremely sophisticated scientific equipment, but ideas are often found through inspiration and collaboration, happening in open informal shared spaces located in central areas between the labs.
The building design is adaptable to ever-changing scientific requirements, with flexible interiors able to change with the new technologies that will be implemented in the building.
The building’s architectural vocabulary of exposed steel structure and articulated details establishes a dialogue with the “DNA” of the site – the steel structure of the adjacent subway viaduct and the industrial history of the surrounding area.
The facade of the building is fully dynamic and highly efficient–thermally, acoustically and in its capacity to react and adjust to the natural weather conditions. The automated roller shades within the double skin control the solar heat gain and filter the daylight to optimum levels throughout the day inside the labs. Recirculated air flows inside the double skin facade as a buffer mitigating outside air temperature and velocity. The building is certified LEED Silver.
Role in the project
Serge Drouin was the Associate-in-Charge at RPBW, following all phases of design through completion of construction, with particular focus on the exterior envelope, the exposed mechanical equipment, and some special design fixtures of the building as well as the BIM implementation at RPBW for the project.
Program and Design Concept
The Jerome L. Greene Science Center is a neuroscience research facility designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The shimmering 9–story glass tower is dedicated to state-of-the-art brain research and houses the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, led by world-renowned scientists including Nobel Prize laureates Eric Kandel and Richard Axel.
“The Jerome L. Greene Science Center is absolutely critical for the future of brain science at Columbia University and in a broader sense for brain science in the United States. This Greene Science Center has put Columbia into a unique position to make a major set of contributions to understanding the brain and its disorders.” Eric Kandel, Nobel Laureate
The ground floor is transparent and porous, accessible to the public. It is the first expression of the masterplan concept of “Urban Layer”: an accessible space shared with the community, reinforcing the urbanity of the new campus. It is filled with carefully chosen public functions: education lab, community clinic, café, gym, rock climbing, and exhibit spaces related to the scientific explorations conducted in the labs above.
The layout of the building facilitates collaboration and the exchange of ideas between the various departments. The building contains extremely sophisticated scientific equipment, but ideas are often found through inspiration and collaboration, happening in open informal shared spaces located in central areas between the labs.
The building design is adaptable to ever-changing scientific requirements, with flexible interiors able to change with the new technologies that will be implemented in the building.
The building’s architectural vocabulary of exposed steel structure and articulated details establishes a dialogue with the “DNA” of the site – the steel structure of the adjacent subway viaduct and the industrial history of the surrounding area.
The facade of the building is fully dynamic and highly efficient–thermally, acoustically and in its capacity to react and adjust to the natural weather conditions. The automated roller shades within the double skin control the solar heat gain and filter the daylight to optimum levels throughout the day inside the labs. Recirculated air flows inside the double skin facade as a buffer mitigating outside air temperature and velocity. The building is certified LEED Silver.
Role in the project
Serge Drouin was the Associate-in-Charge at RPBW, following all phases of design through completion of construction, with particular focus on the exterior envelope, the exposed mechanical equipment, and some special design fixtures of the building as well as the BIM implementation at RPBW for the project.
