The Jerome L. Greene Science Center
New York City   
Best Project

Project Owner/Developer: Columbia University
General Contractor/Construction Manager: Lendlease (US) Construction LMB Inc.
Lead Design Firm: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The Jerome L. Greene Science Center, home to the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, is the first building to rise on Columbia University’s new 17-acre Manhattanville campus. The nine-story, 450,000-sq-ft center also is the largest research building that Columbia has ever built and the biggest academic science building in New York City.

Constructed in a top-down sequence, the project required a slurry wall and steel columns to be built before construction took place. To mitigate noise and vibration from the busy surrounding neighborhood, the team reinforced the foundation and implemented a double wall system throughout the building.

To ensure the safety of those working on the project, construction workers were tied off if exposed to a greater than a 6-ft fall hazard. The team also created a passive netting system that was awarded a Building Trades Employers’ Association construction safety award.

“Working with partners like Columbia University was a great experience for our team,” says Steve Sommer, principal-in-charge at Lendlease, the project’s contractor.

Building the project “provided the opportunity to create a place that will have the ability to change people’s lives and make a true difference in the world,” he says.

The center features four floors below grade. At the ground level, there is a health screening facility and neuroscience education center that is open to the public.

Laboratories and research facilities occupy the remaining nine above-grade floors.

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