Located on 6.5 acres in Bronx, N.Y., the Mott Haven Campus is composed of four separate schools-Bronx Leadership Academy II for grades 9-12, New Explorers High School for grades 9-12, Urban Assembly for Careers in Sports for grades 9-12, and KIPP Academy for grades K-4-and is the largest single school construction project undertaken by the New York City School Construction Authority.
Completed in September 2010, the $137 million project accommodates 2,310 students, and brings much needed public and shared areas to an urban neighborhood in the South Bronx. The campus was designed by New York City-based Perkins Eastman, in association with Alexander Gorlin Architects, New York City, and combines four different schools on one site. It allows specialized cultural and athletic spaces to be shared, while substantially reducing construction costs and maximizing efficiency.
Each school still maintains its individual identity with separate entryways, classrooms, administrative areas and dining facilities. Additionally, each school also has a unique color scheme within its school tower, rooted in the shared base building where dedicated cafeterias orient the different student populations within the u-shaped concourse.
The primary teaching spaces are situated within in each school tower so that the school can limit access during after-school hours. Community meeting rooms are located on street level and below, facilitating the availability for community use. By transitioning an open-air plaza into a doubleheight main lobby featuring the works of public artist Sarah Sze, the concourse level extends the available public use space.
Creating a dramatic visual centerpiece for the campus, the sculptural auditorium is covered in 19,950 square feet of zinc metal panels. Merchant & Evans Inc., Burlington, N.J., supplied 10,496 square feet of Zip-Rib standing-seam metal roofing panels and Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., supplied 9,454 square feet of Reynobond aluminum composite material panels for the walls and soffits. The 600-seat performing arts center also serves as the off-hours community theater.
Mott Haven Campus, Bronx, N.Y.
Owner: New York City School Construction Authority
Architect/interior design: Perkins Eastman, New York City
Associate architect: Alexander Gorlin Architects, New York City
General contractor: DeMatteis, Elmont, N.Y.
Landscape architect: RGR Landscape, New York City
Mechanical engineer: WSP Flack + Kurtz, New York City
Structural engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates, New York City
Civil engineer: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Doylestown, Pa.
Wall panel installer: Bamco Inc., Middlesex, N.J.
Metal roof panels/installer: Merchant & Evans Inc., Burlington, N.J., www.ziprib.com, Circle # 78
Metal wall panels: Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com,
