The Barnard College Diana Center's site is set within an intimate campus compressed within the dense urban environment of Manhattan. Comprised of an eclectic group of predominantly brick buildings, the campus is focused around Lehman Lawn with disconnected landscape spaces at the periphery.
Located between the Lawn and Broadway, the Diana Center unites landscape and architecture, interior and exterior spaces, presenting a window onto the College and the city. The 98,000 square foot multi-use building establishes an innovative nexus for artistic, social, and intellectual life on the campus. The facility brings together spaces for art, architecture, theater, and art history, as well as faculty offices, a dining room, and a cafe.

From the historic entrance gate at Broadway, the wedge-shaped design frames a clear sightline linking the central campus at Lehman Lawn to the lower level historic core of the campus. The Diana Center extended Lehman Lawn horizontally and vertically; descending planted terraces cascade north to Milbank Hall, previously isolated by a 14 foot-high retaining wall plaza, and ascending double-height atria bring natural light and views into the seven story structure.

The project is a winner of a 2011 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award. The Jury for the Awards had the following comments: "This project is elegant and inviting – it reads as a diagram for interactive/collaborative education both inside and out.
The integration of the landscape and architecture is the hallmark of this project and the heart of a good campus building.

It still gives a sense of solidity to the wall between the enclosed campus and the outside world, but allows some transparency from the building out to Broadway and back in from the street."

Project Credits:

-Architects: WEISS/MANFREDI
-Acoustical: Cerami & Associates, Inc. with T.M Technology Partners, Inc.
-Cost Estimator: AMIS Inc.
-Engineers: Langan (Civil); Jaros, Baum & Bolles Consulting Engineers (Mechanical); Severud Engineers (Structural)
-Landscape Architect: HM White Site Architects
-Lighting Design: Brandston Partners, Inc.
-Sustainability: Viridian Energy & Environmental, LLC
-Theater Consultant: Fisher Dachs; Jaffe Holden Acoustics
-Theatre Acoustic Consultant: Jaffe Holden Acoustics

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