Pratt Institute
New York City, USA
- AIA New York Chapter Architecture Honor Award (2007)
- Roger H. Corbetta Merit Award, Concrete Industry Board (2006)
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The Pratt Institute in New York is one of the world's leading private art colleges. Its courses include architecture, art, design, liberal arts and sciences.
The New York-based architectural firm Steven Holl Architects was commissioned to connect the two existing listed buildings while also expanding the private school's premises. The difficulty lay in compensating for the difference in height between the misaligned floor slabs of the north and south wings. Holl therefore had a base built from reused red bricks that had been salvaged from a fire in 1996. The new Higgins Hall Centre section was built on this base, supported by thick steel beams and six prefabricated concrete columns. Holl compensated for the offset of the profiled glass panels meeting in the middle by installing clear glass panes of different heights.
The newly created functional rooms include design studios, classrooms, a media office, a new auditorium, a new architecture gallery and the new entrance and reception area. To create a pleasant indoor climate, translucent thermal insulation was installed in the hollow spaces between the profiled glass panes.
