High technology
A new academic building was inaugurated
Story and photos by Greg McQueen
The future lies in the West.
A new structure dedicated to learning now stands west of Broadway in Washington Heights.
The 14-story glass tower, located at 104 Haven Avenue, is a new medical education center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).
The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center features high-tech classrooms, breakout spaces, a 300-seat auditorium, and state-of-the-art clinical simulation rooms.
Dr. Lee Goldman, executive vice president and dean of the schools of health sciences at CUMC, said the center will serve about 160 students a year and greatly enhance the way they learn.
„I think this building will be transformative,” he said. „It integrates all the modern aspects of medical education and takes it to the next level.”
Goldman said the project was completed on time and on budget. Construction began in late 2013.
Vakelos Education Center will officially open to teachers and students on August 15.
A graduate of the University’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Pharmaceutical Manager B. It is named after Roy Vaguelos and his wife, Diana, who were the primary contributors to the building’s construction.
On July 27, CUMC gave a preview of the building and gave demonstrations of the various simulation rooms.
One includes a heart surgery simulator that allows medical students to simulate a cardiopulmonary bypass procedure.
The equipment includes an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine that filters the patient’s blood, adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide, then returns the blood to the artery and pumps it through the patient’s body.
„This is state-of-the-art technology,” said James Beck, director of perfusion at CUMC. „We can put people on an ECMO machine for days or weeks. We can send patients to intensive care on this and get them out of bed and exercising around the hospital while they’re on cardiopulmonary bypass.
The Obstetric Simulation Room is designed to train students in handling difficult birth situations.
„Then when they encounter similar situations in real life, they know how to handle them because they’ve seen it before in training,” said Audrey Merriam, MD.
The 100,000-square-foot facility is the first building dedicated to CUMC physicians and graduate students, who previously had to share space with several other CUMC areas, such as the Hammer Health Sciences Building and Nursing and Dentistry.
„We need a space that fits the way we teach and how students learn,” said Dr. Ronald Drusin, associate dean for education at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. „We don’t have the facility for these students.”
The building’s innovative structural design is the work of design studio Tiller Scofidio + Renfro, which worked with architectural group Gensler.
„Most medical education buildings are small and sprawling,” said Elizabeth Tiller, founding partner of Tiller Scofidio + Renfro. „It’s clearly different. It’s steeper, has a much smaller footprint.
The focal point of the building’s design is called the Studio Cascade, a series of studios and social spaces spanning multiple floors, connected by vertical, exposed and interconnected staircases that extend the entire height of the building.
Studio Falls’ interior nooks are designed for collaborative learning and are open to outdoor spaces and south-facing terraces, Tiller said. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of the Hudson River and Manhattan.
CUMC Assistant President of Capital Project Management Patrick J. Burke said incorporating the latest construction and design techniques was critical to creating the building.
„Being on the cutting edge of technology is important to us,” Burke said. „A building like this could not have been built even 15 years ago.”
Tiller said Columbia students were interviewed extensively as part of the design process to ensure their needs were met.
„We wanted to create a building where students wouldn’t want to escape,” Tiller said.
„This is a building that people are going to be in 12 to 14 hours a day, so it’s important that they feel comfortable and relaxed here,” Burke said. „We tried to give it a very sculpted, very warm feel, and we tried to incorporate the visuals as much as possible.”
The site has 18,000 square feet of learning and simulation space, including six multipurpose simulation rooms that allow students to practice skills on full-body computerized mannequins.
They practice on real cadavers in the clinical anatomy lab, which has video cameras on every table and bright, state-of-the-art lighting.
„Our old facility was very outdated,” said Dr. Paulette Berndt, professor of pathology and cell biology. „Like many medical schools, it was in the basement and had no windows, no desks and no flashlights.”
The Vagelos Academic Center is located between two residential towers for medical students and was built on the former site of a five-story building belonging to the university.
Although the Education Center is limited to CUMC students and faculty, the courtyard overlooking the Hudson River is accessible to the public.
„We opened up a little bit of space and left a view of the river,” Goldman said. „From a community perspective, I think it’s going to be a nice addition to the neighborhood.”
The Vagelos Education Center is part of a broader revitalization campaign for CUMC’s Washington Heights campus, which includes a new nursing headquarters, scheduled for completion in the spring of 2017, and renovations to several existing buildings.
Additionally, CUMC will open two new buildings in West Harlem: the Jerome L. The Greene Science Center and the Lenfest Center for the Arts will open for the upcoming 2016-17 academic year, a Columbia spokeswoman said.
For more information, visit www.cumc.columbia.edu Or call 212.305.2862.