THE BROWNING SCHOOL
Rendering of proposed cross section
New Central Stair Connector from Cellar to 4th Floor (10 Levels)
The Browning School is an independent school for 400 boys in grades K-12, located on East 62nd Street. It occupies three buildings–the original school, a narrow in-fill building, and an apartment house totaling 56,500 sf, which have been combined over the years. As a result of this incremental growth, the school consisted of multiple levels, and the spaces within it were dark, cramped, and illegible. We prepared a comprehensive Master Plan to address code and ADA issues, and completely reorganized the public circulation space for the school.
Library with view to the Central Stair Connector
The central core of the building has been transformed. We kept the original stair on the east side of the building, and constructed a new light-filled stair on the west side; in the center, a new south-facing atrium stair brings natural light deep inside the building. A new multi-stop elevator was installed to access the different levels. At the basement level and on the first floor, a new public zone was created with an expanded lobby, a gymnasium, a dining room, and a library. Transparency between these spaces heightens the sense of spaciousness and activity.
Transformed lobby
Washington Street entry
Lobby before
Lower Gymnasium
Lower gymnasium before
Cafeteria central dining hall
Cafeteria central dining hall and kitchen
Original cafeteria
Cafeteria with skylight
New Library with view to the connector stair
New reading terrace
New Library
Original Library
Lower school classroom
Middle and Upper school classroom
Main staircase
Typical original classroom
New tech lab
Typical corridor
Upper school science lab
PET ER G I SO L F I A SSO C I ATE S Architects • Landscape Architects, LLP
566 Warburton Avenue Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706 Phone: (914) 478-3677 www.petergisolfiassociates.com
Peter Gisolfi Associates is a firm of architects, landscape architects, and interior architects located in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY with a secondary office in New Haven, CT. We are known for designing campuses and buildings that enhance an academic institution’s sense of community. We design buildings based on important pedagogical ideas and clearly-articulated objectives. Our projects are intrinsically sustainable, relating to the environment and the man-made context in regionally appropriate ways. Founded by Peter Gisolfi in 1976, the firm’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors from the AIA, the National School Boards Association, American School & University, Learning by Design, and the American Association of School Administrators. We value teamwork and collaboration, and are committed to providing close personal service to all of our clients from project inception to completion.