CUNY Baruch College
Library and Technology Center
New York, NY

330,000 sf • 30,660 sq m

The Baruch College Library and Technology Center realized the first part of a master plan designed to introduce new library facilities onto the College’s urban campus. Baruch College, one of the largest undergraduate business schools in the country, is made up of a student body which commutes to the school daily. Prior to the construction of this building the college renovated office buildings in order to provide classrooms, administrative offices, a library and other facilities. To create the new library, the firm completely renovated an 1894 industrial building designed in Italian Renaissance style. The original Pompeiian brick, terra cotta, and pink New England limestone façade was restored; only the structural columns of the building remains as part of the new interior.

The 330,000 sf, nine story library also includes a conference center, a computing / technology center, and a media center. The renovation also provided a space for students to study between classes. A grand staircase in the two-story entrance lobby leads to the main floor of the library which is organized around a five-story skylit atrium created from an existing lightwell. The atrium, as well as most of the other library interiors, is paneled in cherry wood and topped by a 70-by-90-foot skylight. The new library accommodates 525,000 volumes.

Following completion, the project was honored with many local and national awards for its innovative adaptive re-use of a historic building, including: the Association of College & Research Libraries Excellence in Academic Libraries Award; the New York Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Award; and the AIA / American Library Association Honor Award for Excellence in Design.

(Photography by Peter Aaron / ESTO)