Columbia University, Faculty and Graduate Housing

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Renzo Piano Building Workshop with J. Wadge Design

ProgramGraduate and Faculty Housing
Size 184,000 GSF
Location

600 W 125th is the latest addition to the Manhattanville Campus, Columbia University’s vision for a 21st century campus integrated into the fabric of New York City. The project builds on key characteristics of this master plan including a transparent and inviting ground plane known as the Urban Layer, a refined industrial material palette informed by the context, and a high benchmark for sustainability.

Housing graduate students and faculty apartments, 600 W 125th adds a critical programmatic ingredient to the existing academic facilities. By providing places to live, the project meaningfully adds to the new campus’ center of gravity and creates a 24/7 vibrancy. The 34-story building becomes a natural beacon for Manhattanville Campus, announcing its presence to the nearby Morningside Campus and broader urban context of New York. 

600 W 125th Street is currently tracking certification of LEED v4.0 gold with notable features includes a high-performance façade with approximately 60% opacity, optimized equipment efficiency, limited gas usage to achieve long-term carbon emissions reductions, enhanced Clean Construction program, vegetated roofs and stormwater detention. The project is also pursuing Fitwel Version 2.1 Multifamily rating, with a target of 2 stars, reflecting the building’s responsibility toward occupant health and well being in addition to environmental stewardship.

At the street level, the building is elevated on slender columns to create a feeling of lightness and floating above the public realm.  

Upon this sits the podium, a five-story element that defines the street wall and creates a gateway into the campus from the southeast by mirroring the Forum facade across the street. From here, the tower steps back and fragments further in plan and in elevation as it rises according to the sky exposure plan, floorplate organization, and the desire to reduce the visual impact and the shadow of the tower within the neighborhood.

A Luminous Facade
The facade is clad in Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), pigmented a subtle blue-grey and polished to a reflective sheen. This material choice creates a luminous skin that, at certain times, makes the building appear to dissolve into the sky. The scale is reduced through smaller GFRC panels with curved corners and rhythmic vertical ribs that capture the sun's movement.

In the end, the project’s north-south orientation and its east-west shape maximize the views for residents towards the Hudson River to the West and the East River, at the same time mitigating the tower’s presence from Broadway. The top of the tower is a rhythmic composition using the building systems as vocabulary. 

Refinement and Versatility in Institutional Housing

The apartments, ranging from studios to multibedroom apartments, prioritize openness and lightness with siple yet refined finishes including white oak flooring throughout. 

From the outset, it was clear that the project massing should be as sensitive as possible to the surrounding context. The new building breathes, leaving spaces in-between and allowing for a porosity of light and air with the surrounding neighborhood. 

The project is more than a beacon for the new campus; it's a place designed to truly connect future faculty and graduate students to their academic purpose and the urban life around them.

With the completion of 600 W 125th Street, the Columbia Manhattanville campus principles of lightness, transparency, contextual sensitivity, and sustainability are infused with a new vitality of residential life.