What the doctor ordered

The new Columbia University Medical Center Medical and Graduate education Building takes the idea of learning in small groups to the limit. The 14-story glass tower at 171st St. and haven Ave. is scheduled to take approximately three years.

The building is full of breakout spaces, pods, balconies, cubes and risers where students can study quietly but also run into and inspire each other.

The architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, brought similar life (and light) to the Juilliard School and Lincoln Center. They are also working on the controversial MOMA expansion.

here, they plan a spectacular study cascade along the south side of the 14-story building.

Ronald Drusin, CU’s vice dean for education, says school staff visited newly built medical buildings at Stanford, Johns hopkins and Washington University in St. Louis to see what was possible, and also looked at the old library at UCSF to see how a retrofitted building works.

The school eventually decided that a new construction can more easily meet the high-tech demands of a modern medical school.

“education is always changing, so the space must be flexible,” says Drusin. “We need space for small group learning, but still need one large lecture laboratory.”

The anatomy lab can be converted for other uses, as it is only used for part of the year.

The state-of-the-art simulation center will contain mock clinics, operating rooms and other medical environments where students can practice on manikins, computers and actors.

Other features include:

100,000 square feet of high-tech classroom facilities.

Lounges, a café, and student commons.

A space configuration that allows optimal daylight into classrooms and public spaces.

A wide range of sustainable features designed to obtain LeeD Gold certification.