CUMC Breaks Ground for Medical and Graduate Education Building

Lee Goldman, MD, and Columbia President Lee Bollinger joined donors, faculty, and students in a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for construction of the CUMC Medical and Graduate Education Building.

Construction of the 14-story glass tower at 171^st Street and Haven Avenue is scheduled to take approximately three years.

The building’s pioneering design, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, has been described as “eye-catching,” “a major landmark in the skyline of northern Manhattan,” and “unorthodox for a medical school… in its reflection of a new more collaborative, team-based mode of teaching.”

The opportunity to create a more vibrant and cohesive campus is being made possible by vital support from philanthropists Diana and P. Roy Vagelos, MD; Philip L. and Cheryl Milstein; and the Clyde and Helen Wu Family. Representatives from each family attended the ceremony along with Columbia Trustee Kenneth Forde, MD, and employees of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Gensler, and the construction company, Sciame.

For more information about the building, visit “A Modern Home for Medical Education.”

Construction and building features:

• 100,000 square feet of high-tech classroom facilities
• Advanced center for immersive, simulation-based medical education
• Innovative learning spaces for both collaboration and quiet study
• Lounges, café, and student commons
• Space configuration that allows optimal daylight into classroom and public spaces
• Wide range of sustainable features, designed to obtain LEED Gold certification
• Clean building techniques, including air and dust mitigation, noise and pest monitoring, and waste management
• CUMC plans to use a unionized construction work force comprising at least 35 percent minority, women, and local trades people