FIT is Stretching to W 28th St.

By Emerald Rucks

W27th St is celebrated for being home to the Fashion Institute Technology (FIT). The institution is growing with the construction of a brand-new academic building on W 28th St. The new addition will be the first in more than 40 years. Construction is occurring right now as your eyes are moving through this newspaper. The building is scheduled to be completed for early occupancy in the summer of 2024. This prominent building will create a state-of-the-art learning environment. Construction of this building will advance FIT’s commitment to a more sustainable campus and bring new opportunities for design and business innovation.

FIT has always embraced the talents of students that are brought to the school’s community. The new academic building is not just a regular addition; FIT strives for the highest quality of learning environments for their students. The new building will improve the quality and expand the availability of student space. With student spaces growing, this gives FIT the chance to take classes offline and return them fully to the new classrooms. FIT aims to renovate all of their current buildings, ensuring they’re state-of-theart, with a commitment to maintaining this quality for the future.

Just imagine you are navigating your way through the magical city, when you notice the shimmer of the new building. Your eyes glisten over the 10-story structure standing in front of you. You notice the glass facade of the building opening the campus to the wild vitality of the city. The glass facade creates a glimpse of college life for the neighborhood and the streets surrounding the building. Sherry F. Brabham, Treasurer and Vice President of Finance and Administration, gave me a sneak peak into what we can expect from the new building.

Just inside the doors, the building will have 26 smart energy efficient learning spaces, which include classrooms, studios, and labs. These spaces will increase 13% in classroom space. On the fifth floor is a major area dedicated to increase the amount of space students have access to. The building will also include a double height (fully accessible) knitting lab, a

The new building will advance FIT’s commitment to move to a sustainable campus. The new building is following a carbon footprint reduction of more than 5% in the past decade, furthering FIT’s commitment to becoming a more sustainable campus. SHop, the contractor in charge of this intricate project, faces challenges due to the limited space with the Smithsonian’s National Design Award for Architecture. double-height lobby that connects to FIT’s Marvin Feldman center on West 27th, and a soaring light-filled atrium set between the new building and Feldman Center, which will be a beautiful addition. available in New York City. Nevertheless, they are committed to pursuing LEED Gold certification through strategies that involve sustainable materials, smart technology, energy efficiency, daylighting, and sustainable construction practices.

Covid. Everyone jumps for joy when they hear the word. As much as everyone would love to forget and move on, people around the world are still being affected. Postpandemic, there were a mix of delays with the building materials. Contractors were frustrated with materials not arriving within the set time frames. The bid document was for 2020, so the building process has been slowed down significantly since Covid. Not a single person could have foreseen the impact of the pandemic.

Moving forward, there will be no disruptions as a consequence of the delays. FIT’s plan was to assume the building would not be ready out of an abundance of caution. FIT has operated for years within their current footprint without the benefit of additional space. Classes for spring semester are scheduled within the existing FIT footprint. If needed, it is a lot easier for them to add classrooms into the new building than to take them away.

The substantial answer you have all been itching for: “will there really be a Chickfil-A in the new academic building?” You heard it here first folks, unfortunately, the answer is no. On the bright side, the building will feed our hard-working hungry bellies. There will be a “grab-and-go” food kiosk on the 5th floor. See, we won’t need a Chick-fil-A.

SHop has worked with the world’s most important and innovative institutions to create structures such as the Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the new Uber Headquarters in San Francisco. They strive for a high-performance approach to design and create definitive new and enduring architecture to the magical city skylines and streetscapes. The diverse work of SHop has been widely recognized and rewarded

If you want to learn more about the new building, you can venture into our very own FIT’s website to take a virtual tour, watch a time lapse camera, and a construction slideshow. The virtual tour offers 360° views of the building’s atrium, student commons, lobby, and more. Take a peek at the time lapse camera to view the progress of the building. Scroll through the construction slideshow to access images of the construction in progress. This new academic building will bring endless possibilities!