Creating an aesthetically pleasing space was just the start. We needed it to align with the educational program, accommodate student requirements, and remain within the budget. Addressing the technical aspects was equally crucial, including HVAC, power, and data infrastructure for climate control, electricity, and Internet/WiFi access.
As the project progressed, the department’s needs changed. The creative management program was absorbed into the design side of the program and strategy became an integral part of content creation. Classrooms and labs were refitted as interactive environments and conference rooms.
The Pearl Building was once an industrial manufacturing building. It doesn’t have a basement; rather it is sustained by the sunken columns that make up the space. The construction crew first demolished the floor to make way for plumbing, “power and data” ( electricity and broadband). Note the CMY stripes on the wall in the left image. They were guidelines for students to enter the offset pressroom that once occupied this space. In the center image, notice the excavation on the left edge of the image to accommodate the power infrastructure for the new facility.
After many sketches and meetings, it was time to break ground.
left to right: View of The Pearl from the Adams Street entrance; the hallway from the Tillary Street entrance; a bulldozer where our conference room is now.
above: This is now P-117, our conference room where advertising classes and other collaborative courses and events are held.
above: Our new desks in the process of being wired for computers.
As we looked forward, a large space to hold events would be needed. So, we requested a collapsible wall between two classrooms. When the walls are retracted, there is room for conferences, advisement meetings and project presentations:
Our ample hallway in its stages:
…and it came in handy for the ribbon cutting!
President Hotzler with COMD cutting the ribbon to our new facility, October 18, 2018, Raanan Geberer, The Brooklyn Eagle.
