After much deliberation, Barnard College’s administration announced plans last year to build a new teaching and learning center at the heart of its four-acre campus in Morningside Heights. Now with demolition of the former library nearly complete, groundwork and excavation for the new 11-story structure will soon begin.
The upcoming 128,000-square-foot interdisciplinary building is being designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and will incorporate several tiers of terraces to increase outdoor access for students and faculty. The 189-foot-tall structure aspires to become the college’s hub of academic and intellectual life and will feature an updated and expanded library, a digital commons with five teaching labs, and a computational science center that will connect to the adjacent Altschul Hall. All three of the resources will utilize new media and digital technologies to enhance student learning methods.