The Gateway Center, Westchester Community College, NY higher education building design architect

The Gateway Center, Westchester Community College

New York Higher Education Building Development design by Ennead Architects, NYC, USA

Feb 17, 2011

The New Gateway Center At Westchester Community College Designed By Susan T. Rodriguez / Ennead Architects

The first Westchester County-owned LEED certified building is honored with LEED Gold Certification

Photographs © Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects

Ennead’s Gateway Center Honored with LEED Gold Certification

February 1, 2011 (Westchester, New York) – The Gateway Center opened at Westchester Community College in September, 2010, defining a new center on campus. The new 70,000 sf facility provides classroom, seminar and gathering spaces for the College’s language and business programs. Susan T. Rodriguez (Design Partner) and Timothy Hartung (Management Partner) led the Ennead design team.

The new Gateway Center symbolizes the college’s vision and commitment to a more accessible education for residents of Westchester County and an American college experience for the many recent immigrants seeking to improve the quality of their lives and those of their families. The design for the building was inspired by this vision.

According to Rodriguez, “We sought to create a building that serves to strengthen the meaning of the word Gateway for those who might already know its definition and forever define it for those who are learning it for the first time in English…As a physical embodiment of ‘something that serves as an entrance or a means of access’.”

Located at the east entrance of the College’s Valhalla campus, the Gateway Center serves as both an initial expression of campus identity and a threshold to the College. The design unifies the building and the site to form a sustainable daylit environment. Bringing together the beauty of the campus landscape, references to the campus’ architectural legacy and state-of-the-art technology, the building creates a unique educational crossroads.

The building’s two academic wings which house the language and business programs embrace a landscaped courtyard and are connected by a multi-story glass pavilion that serves as the lobby and welcome center. The building’s overall composition is punctuated by an illuminated tower at the southeast corner.

The Gateway Center recently received LEED Gold certification, becoming the first Westchester County-owned LEED certified building. Ecology and sustainability were central to the design, from the building’s overall siting and massing strategies to the integration of energy efficient systems and selection of materials. For generations to come, this building is intended to serve the College as a vital center of scholarship and opportunity.

photographs © Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects

Ennead Architects

Known for powerful building designs for cultural, educational, scientific and not-for-profit institutions, Ennead Architects is a 150-person firm based in New York City. Projects have been published internationally and recognized with numerous awards for design excellence and for their important contributions to the life of their cities and campus precincts.

The firm’s research-based design process sponsors the creation of signature building designs that are expressive of an institution’s philosophy and vision and address each project’s unique programmatic, technical, aesthetic and environmental issues.

The Gateway Center, Westchester Community College images / information from Ennead Architects

Ennead Architects

Location: Westchester Community College, New York, USA