Laboratory School, Stacking, Pragmatism

Project idea

Simply and formally, this project is a big cube stacked on six smaller cubes.

The big one is 85’ x 85’ x 85’ and it is for the laboratory school. Smaller ones are 35’ x 35’ x 35’ and they are open to the public. Situated across the street from a busy subway station, the 35’ cubes leave spaces among them and allows for shortcuts. Bounded by busy streets and a train track, The 85’ cube is elevated by the small ones and float above the city buzz.

The overall design generated from the simple act of removing the laboratory school from the ground plane in order to provide public spaces that can be truly public and allowing the laboratory school to be internally functional in the context of 2019 New York City.
The repetition of cubes is an attempt to use the familiar and agreeable to create a sense of uncanny and perhaps disturb a little.

It looks like something you have seen somewhere but just not quite.

Project description

The Interior organization of the laboratory school is simple in the plan. There are four rooms per floor. Two of them are classrooms dedicated to a specific grade: pre-k and kindergarten on the 1st floor, first and second grade on the second floor, etc, and the other two are special classrooms: art room, science lab, library or music room. The special classrooms occupy two levels with a double-height space incorporated. The main floor plate is 75’ x 75’ which leaves 5’ between the interior wall and the exterior facade. 5’ space provides a chance to add stairs that wrap around each of the special classrooms and allow balconies for classrooms to expand into. Each classroom occupies a corner of the building. The column placement is more radial than gridded thus allow the corner views to be unobstructed.

Technical information

The building is efficient with one centralized core. It also serves as the structural spine for the cantilever. Rather than the traditional interior walls, the classrooms are separated by a double layer curtain system. One layer blocks view and one blurs the view. The curtains allow for more flexibility and endless possibilities.