Weill Cornell Medicine New Student Residence

This project is a 170,000 GSF new student residence for Weill Cornell Medicine located at the corner of York Avenue and 74th Street in New York City, anchoring the northern end of its urban campus. The building provides 250 student beds across a mix of unit types, student living room / gathering spaces, a fitness center, gymnasium / event space, sky lounge with roof terrace, and support spaces.

A comprehensive programming and planning phase determined the optimal bed count, prioritizing private studios and amenities to support the demanding academic medical / graduate student experience. Specific focus was paid to programs and relationships that would create a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable student community. NYC zoning criteria, bulk massing requirements, and the requirement to maximize allowable development area on site necessitated a primarily rectilinear massing approach. The overall building design balances an expression of institutional identity and refined monumentality on the exterior with a simple, warm, and natural material condition on the interior supporting spaces for community, privacy, and respite within the urban context. The project’s primary organizational driver and most visible design expression is the vertical / horizontal ‘carve’ that connects communal spaces and public circulation throughout the building from below grade to roof terrace. These linked spaces are defined with an interior material continuity and a functional exterior transparency that define the shared experience of the residents, expressing a visual and psychological connection between the student community within and the surrounding urban campus.