Syracuse University Law College Housing

Syracuse University needed housing to supports its law school expansion without affecting the University’s debt capacity. Erdy McHenry was able to design the University’s first privatized collegiate housing development in a way that would both meet the needs of the University, enhance the campus and learning experience for the law student, and stay under the proposed budget. The final Campus West at Syracuse University was successfully completed under budget, and upon its on-scheduled completion, held a 97% occupation rate. It gives Syracuse the modern look it desired, and created a student-oriented space that also keeps residents connected with the surrounding community.

The new housing places an emphasis on study, specific to the needs of graduate and law school students.  The housing primarily consists of studio and one-bedroom units to give the students’ privacy and to fuel a constructive study environment.

Cornell University Teaching Dairy Barn and Large Animal Teaching Complex

Erdy McHenry Architecture has been commissioned to create a Master Plan for the Teaching Dairy Barn (recently finished) and Large Animal Teaching Complex (LATC) for Cornell University. The master plan describes the vision, principles and essential features that will guide the near-term and long-range development of the proposed site, and will establish objectives for the physical and functional structure of the site.

The Teaching Dairy Barn and its associated out-buildings were the first structures to be completed within Phase I of the Master Plan implementation. The sleek and modern building currently houses approximately 80 cows, with the capacity to hold 60 more for milking and an additional 30 “dry” cows (cows in between lactations and preparing to start the next).

The facilities include overhead fans, stall areas equipped with soft bedding, and electric backscratchers designed for cows to brush up against.

The Milking Center is composed of two areas—a milking and holding area and a training/observation area. The sides of the milking area are open to the elements with operable curtains on the east and west walls to seal the building during the winter months. Overlooking the milking parlor is a classroom designed for the students to observe the parlor and nearby stalls. The viewing/classroom space overlooking the milking parlor has a glass wall on the parlor side and is accessible via either a ramp from the west side or stairs on the east side.

Intermodal Transportation Center

The Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) project started out of need for a parking lot and a bus stop on the site of the new Center of Excellence building, but the client wanted it to be more. The facility was to “tell a story” about sustainable design and inform the neighborhood of its work. They had a vision for the site to become an arts and cultural destination, to become a model of development for future urban books. A parking lot for 99 cars will be anchored by a large detention basin to mitigate the storm water run-off from within the site. Five parking spaces will be designated for hybrid vehicles and another five spaces will be equipped with car chargers for electric vehicle re-charging. A solar PV amature at the south edge of the parking lot will provide electricity to maintain the lighting and car charging stations. A small pavilion will become a shelter for bus passengers. The pavilion will have bike vending available for people to rent bikes, vending machines for a quick snack and lockers to store possessions. While waiting on a cold day, passengers can sit on a radiant bench, heated by the sun. A display wall will actively monitor the energy usage and production of the facility and allow workers to see work that is being done. It is intended to be “net zero”.

The ITC will incorporate several environmental features that will reduce energy consumption, mitigate storm water runoff and be a tangible example for other ecologically-minded urban projects in Syracuse.

The ITC project will collect site-generated storm water run-off in a shallow basin that will encourage evaporation as well as transpiration through its use of plantings. A controlled outflow will connects the basin to the city’s combined storm sewer system. As designed, this system will maintain storm water outflow at, or below allowable limits.

Solar Energy Collection is a major design feature of the ITC. Using either Photovoltaic (PV) and/or Solar Thermal Energy (STE) collection systems, the project is intended to generate all of its own energy – it is designed to be “net-zero”. This includes the required electric loads for the ITC equipment, as well as the LED parking lot lighting. The PV collection system will be tied to the sites electrical system, allowing the overall site to benefit from any excess power that is generated.

Solar power monitoring will be displayed to the general public, showing current usage as well as power being generated. The form of the collection structure will change seasonally in order to increase its efficiency. By adjusting orientation to changing sun angles, the adapting structure will visually demonstrate seasonal optimization.

In winter, part of the collected solar energy will be utilized to temper the environmental conditions for transit riders waiting for the bus. A heated bench and partial wind enclosure will provide a warmed micro -environment through the use of radiant technologies. Using energy collected through PV and/or STE collection systems, the Intermodal Transportation Center will provide a safe-haven from the cold winds and harsh temperatures of the Syracuse winter.

Courtyard by Marriott

The Courtyard by Marriott is located in the heart of the Philadelphia Navy Yard in a prominent location visible from Interstate 95, directly south of Center City Philadelphia along Broad Street. The new five-story, LEED certified courtyard will become a significant contributor in the continued revitalization of the Yard. Accounting for 100,000 square feet, this full service, 172-room hotel will become an integral part of the continuing implementation of the Navy Yard Masterplan.

The ground floor will house an enhanced dining and bar/lounge facility, a fitness room and approximately 2,000 square feet of meeting space for use by hotel guests and corporations within the Navy Yard. Preliminary studies were conducted to guarantee the project would maintain the established facade curvature that faces the on-site park, while ensuring day-lighting and views for all of the guestrooms and primary spaces contained within the building. This client request was incorporated into the design for the Courtyard by Marriott, which utilizes curved glass to create both enticing views and the roof that will cover the Rouse Boulevard entrance within the Navy Yard.

The building lobby is accentuated by a continuous ribbon that wraps along the wall, floor and ceiling surfaces in order to direct guests through the space both visually and physically.  Utilizing aluminum and wood as part of a material palette reminiscent of those used in ship-building, the ribbon greets arriving guests at the ceiling of the porte-cochère. It extends across the lobby ceiling before transitioning down as the backdrop to the reception area, then forming an apron upon which the kiosks sit.  The ribbon continues onto the floor, which visually directs guests to the elevator before wrapping up the ceiling en route to the dining and lounge areas. It finally becomes the field on which sits the communal tables.  The balance of the floor finishes are comprised of a custom carpet derived from patterning developed from the Marriott brand as well as a linear-patterned porcelain tile.

The exterior of the building at the guestrooms will be clad in a Composite Metal Panel rainscreen system, giving the building an ever changing skin that depends upon the time of day and amount of sunlight. The exterior rainscreen creates a system to reduce the building’s overall heat gain by using a series of sub-girts and custom aluminum clips to prevent transfer of heat to the building sub-framing. The base of the building is comprised of a mix of aluminum storefront and porcelain wall tile that also extends up the vertical circulation towers.

The Pennsylvania Ballet

The Pennsylvania Ballet’s Board of Trustees generated a strategic plan designed to heighten the organization’s national profile. The plan included establishing a school for classical ballet and expanding the organization’s presence in the community through outreach and education. Migrating to a new home on the Avenue of the Arts has become a key component in implementing this plan.

The Pennsylvania Ballet’s current residence—and its home of the past 20 years—on South Broad Street is inadequate to meet the needs of the growing ballet company, as well as the needs of The Rock School, a significant organization with which it shares its facility. The proposed site for the Pennsylvania Ballet to call its new home is approximately 76,000 square feet divided among four buildings and holds 70+ feet of frontage along North Broad Street in Center City. This area is already home to several longstanding cultural and historic institutions, including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Masonic Temple. Additionally, there is currently a proposed expansion of the Convention Center which will undoubtedly expand the cultural capital of this site.

The new complex, along The Avenue of The Arts, will allow the Ballet’s multiple departments to exist under one roof.  This facility will establish a tangible identity for the Pennsylvania Ballet on the city’s major arts corridor, cementing the Ballet as an important part of the region’s cultural landscape and a major presence on Broad Street.

It’s new entrance will be set back from Broad Street and will be accessed by passing through a dynamic garden space.  The garden space will have a series of landscaped benches where staff, dancers, and others involved with the Ballet can sit and relax.  The space will be wrapped by a site wall giving a sense of privacy to the garden and creating a stronger street presence for the complex.

At the northwest corner of the site, the current White Building will be renovated for the Ballet’s executive departments and will feature a mix of open office space planning and closed offices for department heads.  Each office floor will feature a shared conference room and shared filing space.

The Shed and Garage buildings are located at the east of the site.  Both buildings will be renovated and used for rehearsal studios and related program.  The renovations will maintain the character of the former buildings by exposing existing brick walls and re-using existing window openings.  A new roof will be built over the shed that will allow daylight into the rehearsal studios.

Connecting the White Building and the Shed Garage Renovation is a new construction that contains a reception area, dancer locker rooms, and a 3500 sf rehearsal studio.  The rehearsal studio’s size will finally allow the Ballet to replicate the stage of The Academy of Music in preparation for performances.  The rehearsal studio will feature a glazed wall where people can observe dancers in rehearsal.  A large skylight in the reception area will flood the area with daylight.

The renovated shed building and Studio Building will feature a green roof system that will aid in controlling the temperature of the spaces, as well as provide an attractive roofscape to surrounding buildings.

Rutgers Camden Graduate Student Housing

The Rutgers Camden Graduate Student housing project is aimed at boosting on-campus enrollment and revitalizing the city’s downtown region.  The 12-story building at 330 Cooper Street is the first new student housing space in Camden in more than two decades. It houses 350 students and also includes approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space that helps define the building at street level. This space re-establishes a language of community that welcomes and greets pedestrians and residents alike. The rooftop seen at the lobby entrance of the complex is lined with greenspace that serves as both a college quad and a typical urban park.

Erdy McHenry Architecture teamed up with Michaels Development Company (MDC) for this monumental project.  MDC’s university housing division, University Student Living, develops, constructs, and manages student housing communities in areas adjacent to colleges and universities across the country.  The Rutgers Student Governing Association had a longstanding goal to increase on-campus population, and this complex helps to answer that endeavor. The housing and retail space brings new energy to the campus and creates critical mass which will likely expand to surrounding downtown Camden and encourage future city development.

Through innovative building practices, coalesced with a distinct neighborhood vernacular, the project will take part in revitalizing Camden’s community while creating a distinct collegiate environment.

Millennium Hall

Drexel University’s history and reputation are heavily rooted in engineering and technology disciplines, so it seems only appropriate that those aspects of its built environment occupy a more prominent place in the conceptual infrastructure of the campus. This new dormitory is a building that is more than a superficial or decorative relationship, but rather a collaboration that respects and reflects the fundamental pedagogy of Drexel’s historical roots.

This project was a collaboration between Erdy McHenry Architecture and Cecil Balmond, one of the worlds leading structural engineers. The building is the first at Drexel to establish and promote a design approach that embraces an integrated design team where the systems and structures are the conceptual drivers.

The dormitory plan strives to achieve a high level of efficiency by locating all stacked core elements toward the center of the plan and through allowing the students rooms to radiate about the edge of the core. While the core maintains the same orientation throughout the entire height of the building, the students’ rooms rotate about the core.

Three Crescent Drive

Erdy McHenry Architecture was contracted to design this new office building at the Philadelphia Navy Yard by Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners.  The four-story, LEED Gold certified building contains 100,000 square feet of office space around a central atrium at the core. This building is part of the ongoing effort to revitalize the Navy Yard, which will bring new life and excitement to this important landmark in Philadelphia’s history.

The building anchors the corner of Three Crescent Drive and Diagonal Boulevard, making it the first building in the overall master plan to occupy this main axis of the Navy Yard. This site is visible from various locations around the Navy Yard, including Interstate 95. The exterior of the building is clad in fiber cement board, which gives the building an ever changing skin dependent on the time of day and amount of sunlight present.

Each office space has natural light and panoramic views of the ever changing Navy Yard and Philadelphia skyline. The building was designed to optimize the amount of sunlight entering into each office, thus increasing productivity in the workplace. The ground floor houses retail space and a cafe for employees and future residents around the site.

The wood wall at the atrium was designed to allow light to penetrate the space and filter into offices and down to the lobby below. This wall is hidden from the exterior and only reveals itself upon entering the building. The wall also brings warmth into the space and breaks up the large vertical atrium.

The north facade incorporates sun traps to reflect light into the building in the morning and evening when the sun is at a lower position in the sky. An exterior courtyard space acts as a refuge for employees and as a buffer between Three Crescent and future buildings along the Diagonal Boulevard.