Higgins Hall Center Wing/Connection - Pratt Institute - by Steve Holl / Rogers Marvel

[Derek2k3]

Small project right here at my school. For some reason I can't add my photos to the soaringtowers gallery, so I'll try again later.

Higgins Hall Center Wing/Connection
61 St. James Place
4 stories
Steven Holl Architects in conjuction with Rogers Marvel Architects
Under Construction 2003-2005

http://www.stevenholl.com/PT161_2C.htm



Construction photo:
http://www.stevenholl.com/images/161Construction.jpg



The North building was just renovated in 1999 by Rogers Marvel Architects. and the South building is undergoing renovation currently/

http://www.rogersmarvel.com/projects/higgins/

Higgins Hall at Pratt Institute
Renovation of the North Wing completed 1999

National AIA Honor Award, 2001
NY State AIA Award of Exellence, 2001
New York City AIA Honor Award, 2001
Interiors Award 2000: Educational Facility of the Year
Lumen Lighting Award, 2000

Pratt Institute selected Rogers Marvel Architects to reconstruct the School of Architecture after Higgins Hall was severely damaged by a four-alarm fire in 1996.

The fire left a roofless brick enclosure, and newly bared evidence of past of construction: arched openings, timber lintels, curved masonry, and 100 year old scars of fire and rebuilding. The design intent was to reveal the poetic within the ruin, and make a workplace for architecture: Simple new surfaces are minimal and are layered onto the existing infrastructure; New ceilings and walls are strategically located to expose the past; Methods to mediate varied and irregular conditions were developed and applied; Building systems are pedagogically expressed. A new generation of architecture students re-populates a remade North Wing in the Fall of 1999.

A new Central Wing is currently in Design Development in conjunction with Steven Holl Architects.

[Archit_K]

Pratt Breaks Ground on Higgins Hall Centerpiece

Last summer on July 8th, President Schutte of Pratt Institute officiated at the goundbreaking ceremony marking the reconstruction on the center section of the Higgins Hall, which had been destroyed by fire in 1996. On hand was world renowned architect Steven Holl, who designed the new centerpiece. Also in attednace were contractor Frank Sciame, architectural planner Jonathan Marvel, Pratt board members Bruce Gitlin, Margaret Monsor Leung, and Dr. Joshua Smith, deputy borough president Yvonne Graham and district councilwomen Letitia James.

Thomas Hanrahan, dean of the architecture school, thanked everyone for their support of the reconstruction. "This project represents all of the things that are great about Pratt and about architecture," he said. "There is lot of history here and a lot of spirti. By joining together different parts of the buildings, we are also bringing together students, bringing together the past with the future, and bringing together different voices."

Steven Holl said he designed the frosted glass centerpiece to have an "amazing glow" from within in the evening. "As everyone knows," he says, "students of architecture always work at night b/c they are so dedicated." He used this trusim as inspiration for his creation.

The Higgins Hall structure is Holl's first project in New York City Deputy borough president and Clinton fHill resident, Yvonne Graham, welcomed Mr. Holl to New York. "With your reputation," she said, "we are sur that this will be a wonderfull addition, not only to Brooklyn, but to New York City." Coompletion of the project is expected in August of 2005.

[Archit_K]

These are some really old pictuers I took. I hope you enjoy.

Check out Steven Holl's website http://www.stevenholl.com/

[Archit_K]

Pictures from last weekend.

[MDesigns07]

I have read that this building is 75% complete. Does any have updated construction photos

[Archit_K]

Originally Posted by MDesigns07

I have read that this building is 75% complete. Does any have updated construction photos

I took theses photos today around 9:30am.






^Roof Top (Skylight)





^ Front Entrance

[Derek2k3]

Steven Holl Architects in conjuction with Rogers Marvel Architects
http://www.stevenholl.com


PRATT INSTITUTE TO CELEBRATE OPENING OF NEW HIGGINS HALL CENTER SECTION WITH LECTURE BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT STEVEN HOLL
http://www.pratt.edu/news/popup.php?...r_Section.html

BROOKLYN, N.Y., September 7, 2005 – Pratt Institute will celebrate the official opening of the Higgins Hall Center Section, designed by Steven Holl Architects, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 22 with a dedication and reception followed by a 6 p.m. lecture by Steven Holl.

Both the dedication ceremony and lecture will be free and open to the public and will take place in the striking new 26,000-square-foot facility, located at 61 St. James Place at the corner of Lafayette Avenue, one block from Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. The dedication will include remarks by the architects and Pratt officials. Space is limited for the lecture and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Directions and a map can be found at www.pratt.edu/campus/directions/.

The opening of the Higgins Hall Center Section – a multi-level, glass-enclosed facility that includes the Leo Kuhn Entrance Lobby, the Robert H. Siegel Gallery, a terrace, an auditorium, a digital resource center, and workshops – marks the end of nearly a decade of construction and renovation of the Higgins Hall complex, which houses the Pratt School of Architecture. A four-alarm fire in 1996 destroyed the original Center Section and damaged the North and South wings.

The Higgins Hall Center Section connects the North Wing and South Wing of Higgins Hall with passages and ramps at each level from the basement up through the fourth floor and uses the themes of connectivity, transparency, and community to create a new identity for the 160-year-old New York City landmark. Pratt broke ground on the Center Section in April 2004 and construction was completed on time for the start of the fall 2005 semester.

Rogers Marvel Architects has won several awards for its previously completed renovations of Higgins Hall’s North and South wings and worked closely with Steven Holl Architects to ensure the design and construction of the Center Section was harmonious with its earlier work.

“This is a milestone event for Pratt Institute and its School of Architecture,” said Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte. “This new Higgins Hall will greatly enhance the experience of our architecture students while adding another stunning architectural jewel to Pratt’s Brooklyn campus. I am proud to say that Steven Holl Architects designed the Center Section, working closely with Rogers Marvel Architects, which reconstructed the North and South wings.”

Steven Holl, principal, Steven Holl Architects, stated: “For the Pratt School of Architecture’s Higgins Hall Center Section we used an elementary architecture formed of concrete bones and a thick glass skin to create a ‘complementary contrast,’ an innovative approach to dealing with the real problem of inserting new buildings into existing context.”

Holl will discuss the design of the Higgins Hall project during his lecture titled “Urbanisms,” which will begin at 6 p.m. on September 22 in the facility’s new auditorium. Holl also will discuss his projects of urban porosity, which include the recent Sail Hybrid competition win in Knokke-Heist, Belgium as well as projects fusing architecture and landscape architecture.

Considered one of America’s most important architects, Holl has been recognized with architecture’s most prestigious awards and prizes and is known for his ability to blend space and light with great contextual sensitivity as well as to seamlessly integrate new projects into contexts with particular cultural and historic importance.

The Higgins Hall Center Section is Steven Holl Architects’ first project for an academic institution in New York City. Holl designed The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki (1998), The Sarphatistraat Offices in Amsterdam (2002), and the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle (1997). He was named Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2003 and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institute, awarded him its prestigious National Design Award in Architecture in 2002.

The original North Wing of the Higgins Hall complex was built in 1869 by Mundell and Teckritz, while the South Wing and Center Section were built by Charles C. Haight in 1887. The building initially served as Adelphi Academy, a private school that eventually became Adelphi University. Pratt acquired the building in 1965 with a gift from the wife of John Higgins, a graduate of Adelphi Academy and an architect. The School of Architecture moved to Higgins Hall in 1970.

An exhibition featuring the Higgins Hall Center Section design process, which began in 1997, will be on view for the opening in the Robert H. Siegel Gallery on the Center Section main floor.

The project architect for the Higgins Hall Center Section is Tim Bade of Steven Holl Architects and the project team includes Makram El-Kadi, Annette Goderbauer, and Erik Langdalen. Guido Hartray of Rogers Marvel Architects worked in association with Steven Holl Architects to integrate the Center Section with the existing North and South wings of the Higgins Hall complex. The construction manager was F. J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc. Structural engineers for the project are Robert Silman Associates and mechanical engineers are Ove Arup & Partners.

For more information on Steven Holl Architects, please visit www.stevenholl.com. For more information on Rogers Marvel Architects, please visit www.rogersmarvel.com.

High-resolution color images of the completed Higgins Hall Center Section interior and exterior are available upon request.

[Archit_K]

what an ugly center connection, the circulation is poor.

[lofter1]

Congratulations on the good work on this project. It looks like it turned out well and I look forward to seeing it in person.

More pics would be great...

[Marc LINIT]

The glass in the images is LINIT channel glass from the Lamberts factory in Germany, the largest independent specialty glass manufacturer in Europe. For Higgins Hall, 504 RoughCast, the most popular texture in the line, was chosen, with most of the channels being Safety Glazing Certification Council (SGCC) certified tempered. Only Lamberts offers 100% heat soak tested tempered channel glass, rigorous testing which prevents installation of glass which may prove to be fragile due to nickel sulfide inclusions and only the LINIT line includes tempered channel glass receiving independent third party verification for safety from the SGCC. A layer of Okapane, an acrylic insulating material from the Schott Corporation, was inserted between the channels of the double glazed vertical installation. Adding Okapane produced an opaque, white aesthetic further enhanced through backlighting - compare day, dusk, and night images of the center section.



The September 26 edition of The NY Times included a story with an image of the Higgins Hall center section, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/ar...gn/26buil.html.



Bendheim Wall Systems is the importer of Lamberts LINIT in North America, for more information call me at 800-221-7379.

[ablarc]

Really quite beautiful the way the light comes through. Like a Japanese paper lantern.

[Derek2k3]

9/28/05
I'll try to post some interior shots later.

[czsz]

I'm sure it's quite elegant by night, but the daytime shots seem to indicate something that looks more like a cheap prefab addition...

[ablarc]

Originally Posted by czsz

I'm sure it's quite elegant by night, but the daytime shots seem to indicate something that looks more like a cheap prefab addition...

True enough, and the Plaza's sterile.

Lots of trees would solve both problems, while preserving the nighttime lantern effect.

[lofter1]

But it's a "Quad".

My high school had a similar Quad -- no trees, concrete surfaces -- and it was a great place to hang out between classes.

All this one is missing are some huge letters across the side of the building spelling out "WARRIORS" (our beloved *cough* mascot):