HOK: Architect
Ballinger: Medical Architect
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners: Consulting Architect (building envelope and lobby)

Greatly expanding NewYork-Presbyterian’s service to the community, the David H. Koch Center provides advanced integrative healthcare and complex outpatient services with a special focus on the human experience. Patient-centered and family-centered care is at the forefront of the building’s far-reaching medical program.

This mission is announced by a generous and welcoming triple-height lobby that offers respite from the surrounding congested streets and continues throughout the building with clear wayfinding, a soothing palette of materials, and extensive artwork.

The Koch Center is extraordinary in several respects:

Infusion and radiation oncology areas, as well as diagnostic imaging, typically found in basement areas, are located on upper floors. This gives patients and staff the benefit of natural light, a rarity that was achieved by substantial structural and architectural accommodations.

Prep and recovery occur in a dedicated room, so patients and family can enjoy a private home base rather than shuttling among waiting areas.

Functional and clinical program areas are set back from the building perimeter, so patients and families travel along pleasant, light-filled corridors. This strategy also gives the curtain wall a consistent level of opacity across the facade, whose appearance subtly shifts in response to the changing light throughout the day.

The curtain wall owes its exceptionally rich architectural character to the Okalux wood screen inserted into its triple-glazed assembly—the first such application on this scale—and to the undulating frit pattern applied to the inner surface of the outer pane.

Designed for LEED Gold certification, the facility includes a green roof, high-performance building skin, and high-efficiency mechanical systems. Critical infrastructure essential for operations during an emergency is located above grade for safety, giving peace of mind to the community the building serves.

Poised to serve future generations, the Koch Center is adaptable to new technologies, highly resilient, and sustainable.

Credits:
- Ballinger - Design Principal - Louis Meilink
- HOK - Design Principal - Kenneth Drucker

Awards:
Healthcare Design Showcase: Highest Award
Healthcare Design Magazine, 2019

Top-Five Project Worldwide, Healthcare and Wellness
Architizer A+ Awards, 2019

Best Healthcare Project
Engineering News Record New York, 2018

American Architecture Award
Chicago Athenaeum, 2020

Healthcare Architecture Award
Architecture MasterPrize, 2019

Rethinking the Future Award: Institutional
European Healthcare Design, 2020

Salus Award for Healthcare Design (Over 25,000 sqm)
European Healthcare Design, 2019

Salus Award for Design Innovation (for Quality Improvement)
Greater New York Construction User Council, 2019

Rethinking the Future Award: Institutional
RTF Architecture Awards, 2020

Building Team Silver Award
Building Design & Construction, 2020