ENR New York’s 2017 Best Projects
Higher Education/Research Award of Merit: Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center

The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center is a state-of- the-art medical and graduate education building designed and constructed to support Columbia University’s progressive medical education program.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCIAME CONSTRUCTION LLC

The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center is a state-of- the-art medical and graduate education building designed and constructed to support Columbia University’s progressive medical education program.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCIAME CONSTRUCTION LLC
Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center - Columbia University Medical Center
New York City
Award of Merit
Project Owner/Developer: Columbia University
General Contractor/Construction Manager: Sciame Construction LLC
Lead Design Firm: Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA)
Civil Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti, Weidlinger Transportation Practice
MEP Engineer: Jaros Baum & Bolles (JB&B)
Owner’s Representative: Group PMX
Executive Architect: Gensler
The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center is a state-of-the-art medical and graduate education building designed and constructed to support Columbia University’s progressive medical education program.
The 15-story, 100,000-sq-ft tower is designed to promote a collaborative, team-based learning and teaching environment. The building will contain a 13,300-sq-ft space dedicated to a medical simulation program, which will allow vendors and manufacturers to have their equipment tested by industry professionals.
The southern part of the building features a vertical campus, called the Cascade, which contains interconnected study and event spaces and a multipurpose auditorium. The Cascade structure comprises a sequence of cantilevered concrete slabs connected by walls and stepped slabs that are supported by a pair of exposed concrete columns.
The project raised the bar for medical simulation program space, says the submitter. Features include fiber optic interconnectivity wired for high-fidelity sound and video and networked to allow for broadcasting or playback to the building’s auditorium, debriefing spaces or individual iPads.


