The Gateway School of New York
New York City
ABA Studio, Andrew Bartle Architects

Architects carve a narrow row house into a school for learning-disabled students

© Phillipe Baumann

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By Deborah Snoonian, P.E

When the Gateway School, a private school in Manhattan for 55 developmentally challenged elementary school students, outgrew its former space, they bought a 19th-century row house in Greenwich Village and asked ABA Studio/Andrew Bartle Architects to tailor it to their special needs. It required substantial renovation and expansion to accommodate the program, which called for classrooms for instruction and therapy, recreational areas, an assembly room, and support spaces. The client also wanted the school to be easy to navigate and to feel spatially open so staff could supervise students easily.

The first priority was adding space. The architects accomplished this by extending the back of the building 6 feet and adding 20 feet to the top of the structure.

Outside, the architects replaced the entry stair with a cantilever-covered ramp for handicapped access that extends into the building. A reception area and offices share space on the first floor, along with classrooms located in the building’s front and rear, where light is most abundant. This dumbbell shape—larger rooms for instruction and socializing at the front and rear of the building, with smaller support spaces located off connecting corridors—is repeated on each floor.

The lobby stair leads to the Grandstand Room. Once a ballroom, it’s where the students eat lunch and gather for assemblies and other group activities. The space-saving lunch tables fold down from the walls like Murphy beds.

Classrooms and support spaces occupy the lower and middle floors, while the upper floors house a gymnasium and outdoor rooftop play area. Translucent panels on the gym’s west wall were scaled to harmonize with the building’s basket-weave glazed-brick exterior. The play area, which brings daylight inside, is encased in steel mesh.

To create acoustic and visual continuity throughout the building, the architects made a number of sectional cuts. A mezzanine added between the second and third floors overlooks the kitchen; the gym has its own observation platform; and an opening on the third level and an oculus on the first level permit light from upper floors to penetrate below. Thoughtful placement of these viewing areas allows teachers to monitor students as they move throughout the day. Floors are also color-coded to help students differentiate the various spaces.

See the February 2002 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
The Gateway School of New York

Location:
New York City

Gross square footage:
10,034 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$2.8 million

Owner:
The Gateway School