NYULMC Science Building

Expanding upon NYU Langone’s vision of creating “a world-class patient centered integrated academic medical center,” the New Science Building provides state of the art neuroscience and biomedical research labs.

During the design phase, Atelier Ten performed façade studies that examined daylight distribution and solar radiation on external shading. Careful consideration was given to daylight and direct sun reaching the labs located on the south of the building where researchers have very tight ranges of acceptability of lighting conditions. This led to the development of the south façade shading system which offers vast views of the Manhattan skyline while eliminating times of direct sun and associated glare on the work benches. Illuminance on the benches had to be tightly controlled. Carefully coordinated lighting and control strategies provided an excellent visual environment while keeping energy use well below code.

Unlike the south façade, the north façade required glazing with a higher visual transmittance, which provided the office spaces with natural daylight throughout the year. The close attention to the glazing was also optimized to balance thermal comfort of occupants near the perimeter, HVAC system sizing and visual comfort.

Sustainability has been an integral component of the design process, maximizing energy conservation, associated carbon emission reductions, and high level occupant comfort. Early energy analysis explored multiple conditioning strategies that led the design to include variable flow chilled beams and perimeter heating that focuses on thermal comfort for lab technicians while minimizing energy use. Chilled beams helped the project achieve both energy and comfort goals that resulted in up to 10% savings in energy consumption over VAV. Chilled beams allow decoupling of conditioning and ventilation air which is critical in lab spaces where air flow rates can be excessively high.