Colleges in Manhattan boast New York City–as-campus, but with increased enrollment and new program interests, LIM College devoted to the business of fashion sought to realize a specific gathering place. To design this keystone of LIM College’s student community the architects had to capture the intimacy of small-scale meeting and studying areas without compromising the expansiveness of the large double-height space at Maxwell Hall. The integration of transparencies, colors, textures and a glass-encased mezzanine create a clean and fresh campus environment. College Bookstore and Coffee Bar-Jittery Joe’s nestle a colorful lounge area against a wall framed further by a metal mesh canopy where a realistic green “hedge” creates a warm atmosphere.
Entering the 8th floor, a delicately defined cube of wooden slats divides public and private spaces and punctuates the converging corridors. Graphic fashion sketches follow the dash of red carpet “catwalk” along these corridors, leading to new media classrooms, computer labs and offices. Utilizing natural daylighting, linear clerestories between ceiling and door frame bring light from outside into interior offices and corridors.