Columbia University Architecture and Urban Design Studios

New York, NY

Studios are the lifeblood of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP). As part of the comprehensive retrofit of the McKim, Mead & White–designed Fayerweather and Avery Halls, undertaken to upgrade the school’s physical plant while preserving the building’s historic character, the studio spaces played a central role in the renovation. Optimizing the Architecture, Urban Design, Historic Preservation, and Urban Planning programs’ spaces for contemporary academic use was crucial.

The new Avery architecture studios now provide 25% more workspace for each student. Shared breakout areas at each studio support model building, group critiques, and exhibitions—activities central to GSAPP’s collaborative culture. The studios have been comprehensively refreshed with wall and ceiling repairs, fresh paint, and asbestos remediation. Former tile floors have been replaced with rift-cut solid white oak, transforming the spaces into clean, bright, and technologically equipped environments that support the digital and spatial needs of contemporary design students. The result is a twenty-first-century design studio housed within a 1910 McKim, Mead & White institutional building.

Student desks, which are essential tools in studio life, have been redesigned to be functional, comfortable, and secure. Each desk offers locked storage to eliminate the need to carry around a computer and materials, integrated cord management for uncluttered work surfaces, and discreet compartments for personal belongings. All of this is cleanly structured to preserve the studios’ openness and light. The students themselves are part of the making process. They produce the digital cut-files, attend the routers and assemble and install the desks, reinforcing an instrumental part of the GSAPP pedagogy on technique and participation.

The new Urban Design studio, gallery corridor, and classroom reclaim an overlooked portion of Fayerweather Hall that had devolved into back-of-house storage and lab spaces. Now bright, efficient, and welcoming, these areas provide sixty additional seats, easing overcrowding in Avery’s architecture studios and creating a new destination that expands the school’s overall capacity and presence.

Columbia’s Historic Preservation Program—the first in the nation—centers on its dedicated preservation lab. This space now features new lab benches, tables, and research-specific equipment. Large-scale 3D scanning and digital presentation tools occupy 2,000 square feet in the Schermerhorn Extension, now the Center for Spatial Research and the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes. This all forms a contemporary hub for research, publication, and teaching within a structure originally built for university support functions.

Finally, the Urban Planning lab has been fully reimagined for light and flexibility. Operable glass walls and a tall clerestory bring daylight into the lounge and computer lab, while the adaptable partitions allow the seminar room to merge with the lounge for larger events, reviews, and exhibitions.

PROJECT DESIGN

Douglas Gauthier

ARCHITECT OF RECORD

Integrated Design Group, Bill Caulin

COLUMBIA CPM

Angela Adams, Kim Chen, Rory Madden, David Sasscer

COLUMBIA FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS

David Dewhurst, Janet Grapengater

GSAPP TEAM

Mark Taylor, Jesse Baxa, Matthew Dolan, Minjan Kim, Riley MacPhee, Christopher Tomasetti

MEP ENGINEER

Loring Engineers and Vanderweil Engineers

LIGHTING CONSULTANTS

TDA / Tillotson Design Associates, Mark Kubicki

CONTRACTOR

Bluewater Construction, Central Consulting Contracting, Inc., King Rose Construction, and Vanguard Construction

PHOTOGRAPHY

Ofer Wolberger