New building in dense urban setting fosters collaboration with the community
The Jewish Theological Seminary is one of the premier Jewish institutions in the United States. The spiritual and academic center added a new building to its historic Morningside Heights campus that consolidates its campus and fosters deeper collaboration with its neighbors, the city, and the broader global community. The building includes a 7000 sf centrally located sky-lit light court which provides a flexible forum for informal and formal gatherings including lectures, religious services, and more. In addition, there is a new library and 200-seat auditorium and performance space. A state-of-the-art climate-controlled special collections storage facility holds JTS’s renowned collection of rare Judaica books, manuscripts, and scrolls. The academic floors are topped by an updated five-story residence hall, with new gathering spaces and kosher kitchens.
HVAC systems include several energy-saving features such as ventilation air energy recovery, demand-control ventilation, water-side economizer, variable frequency drives for fans and pumps, variable primary flow systems for chilled water and heating hot water distribution, high-efficiency, condensing-type gas-fired boilers, and a VRF system with dedicated outdoor air (DOAS) for residential floors. Efficient lighting and a high-performance building envelope to minimize site energy use intensity is an additional energy-saving features. Also vital to the project were ADA-compliant dorm rooms and accessible bathrooms and elevators for enhanced campus accessibility.
