Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy, SAR Modern Orthodox Jewish day school Bronx, NY Images

SAR Academy, Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School in Bronx

Aug 10, 2020

SAR Academy, Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School in Bronx, NYC

Design: architects Esther Sperber and Hila Stern

Location: SAR Academy, Jesselson Campus, 655 West 254th Street Riverdale, NY 10471, USA

New York City, NY — SAR Academy and High School, a private Modern Orthodox Jewish facility in the Bronx, was the first NYC school to close its doors due to coronavirus.

Now, after three months of working with architects Esther Sperber and Hila Stern, the academy has been redesigned as an environment that allows for a safe return to the classroom while maximizing the learning experience and student engagement.

Sperber and Stern created a design solution built on the idea of “radical flexibility,” a concept that allows the school to continuously adapt its physical space to conform to best practices, health guidelines and new technology in real time.

To achieve their goal, the team had to rethink everything about the school’s curriculum and operations as well as the maintenance of the space. It also required multiple strategies to be customized to meet the needs of students in different age groups.

“We had to revise both facilities and usage plans, but we also had to include some student/teacher behavior change in our design methodology, said Hila Stern, owner of HSB Architecture & Design. “Our approach included some newly acquired habits and behaviors.”

Classrooms were reconfigured. The outdoors and underutilized spaces, such as the chapel, study hall, library, conference rooms, were repurposed to create supplemental learning environments. Stairwells and hallways were designated for single direction traffic. Nurse and quarantine stations were placed at the main entrance for symptomatic students.

Signage and wayfinding were reimagined to map a safe and socially-distanced pathway through the building. The HVAC systems were modified and technology upgraded. And the positive aspects of the last few months of remote learning were evaluated and incorporated into a new hybrid curriculum that includes a mix of online and in-school learning.

“Rethinking design and furniture placement, alongside greater integration of technology, created a highly flexible environment,” said Esther Sperber, owner of Studio ST Architects. “And with a multi-layered, age-appropriate process the physical space can be quickly and easily adapted.”

By reimagining the school as a collection of connected physical and digital spaces, Sperber and Stern hope to bring students together in new and more meaningful ways as the world adjusts to an immediate future that requires constant awareness of potential virus exposure.

“These unprecedented circumstances have given us a unique opportunity to rethink existing models, even successful ones, and explore new ideas,” said Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, Principal, SAR Academy. “In planning our reopening, we have tried to think creatively and seize opportunities that we may not have considered previously.”

SAR Academy, Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School in Bronx images / information received 100820

Location: the Bronx, New York City, USA

Bronx Housing

Bronx Buildings

MLK Plaza Apartments
Architect: Magnusson Architecture + Planning

photo : Miguel de Guzman / ImagenSubliminal
MLK Plaza Apartments in the Bronx

Casa Celina, Affordable Senior Housing in the Bronx
Architect: Magnusson Architecture + Planning

rendering courtesy of Magnusson Architecture + Planning
Casa Celina, Affordable Senior Housing in the Bronx