Shaped by an Urban Context and a Translational Mission: The Mount Sinai Center for Science and Medicine
Scott Habjan, AIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Envisioned as a place of investigation and discovery, as well as treatment and healing, the Center for Science and Medicine (CSM) will facilitate the realization of Mount Sinai's translational research vision. The new facility integrates clinical and basic science research with an ambulatory care center, uniting clinicians, scientists, educators, and their colleagues in a unique and collaborative way.
With the future population of the CSM conceived as entirely "new hires," the building is designed to be highly functional and flexible as well as visually compelling and intellectually stimulating. With the building set in a dense urban context, the design team was charged with designing a building that would be "quiet and dignified"—respectful of the existing campus vocabulary and engaged with the neighborhood. The CSM will serve a diverse set of scientific and patient care needs and has employed a complex financing model to realize the vision.
Science in the City
The story of the CSM is inextricably linked to its urban setting. Like many non-for-profit institutions, Mount Sinai sought financing for this critical project in the monetization of its real estate assets. Funding for the CSM was made possible in part by the sale of air rights for a residential tower that will rise adjacent to the facility. The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) team worked closely with Mount Sinai to master plan the entire project and facilitate this complex transaction. In a uniquely urban solution, the site design for the two buildings was conceived in an integrated fashion, and a symbiotic relationship between the buildings evolved. With much of the CSM's MEP systems located in the residential base, the tower will act as a "host building"—serving CSM MEP needs through a vertical umbilical. This strategy will allow the CSM to achieve a more efficient floor plate, minimize excavation, and respect the datum of the surrounding context. At the same time, it will enable the lowest residential units to be raised above that same datum for unobstructed views of Central Park and Upper Manhattan.
An Interactive Urban Laboratory
Designed and coordinated with Building Information Modeling software and targeting a LEED® Silver rating, the CSM is shaped by both its complex translational program and its constrained urban site. The highly efficient and compact building combines the following programs:
- Mount Sinai Brain Institute and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center
- Basic Science Research Space
- Center for Translational and Molecular Imaging
- Cancer Center
- Outpatient Radiation Oncology Treatment Center
- Vivarium
- Education and Conferencing Center
This diverse and exciting program is vertically linked by a network of interaction spaces that will foster collaboration between its multi-disciplinary users.
Scott Habjan is an associate director at SOM in New York. As senior designer in the Health+Science studio, he has led numerous architecture and master planning projects including the three-million-square-foot Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi and the 450,000-square-foot Mount Sinai CSM in New York City. His work in health and science is informed by his experience on a broad range of project types and scales, from residential to commercial and interiors. His work has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Society of American Registered Architects, and he has served as a juror for the AIA annual awards. Most recently, the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City was recognized as the Best Sustainable Hospital project by both Cityscape and Hospital Build Middle East. Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Habjan received his Bachelors of Architecture from the City College of New York.