NW Science Project Begins

Major changes planned for the northwest corner of the Morningside campus have been in a pre-construction phase, preparing for a new science building since March 19.

Excavation has begun on the temporarily-named Northwest Science Building, which Columbia University Facilities called "both an intellectual and physical bridge among different departments and disciplines" in a letter to affiliates of the University and local residents about the project.

The bridges are set to connect the building with the rest of the University's science facilities on the north end of the Morningside campus. One connecter will span across to Havemeyer and Chandler Halls, south of the building footprint, which collectively house the chemistry department. The bridgework will also go eastward to include Pupin, with the physics and astrology departments. Pupin is already connected to Mudd, home to the Engineering school, and Fairchild, the biology building.

The building, designed by José Rafael Moneo, is set to be 14 stories high and house a science library and a café in addition to faculty offices and classrooms. A research facility equipped to foster exploration in the fields of chemistry, biology, and physics is also slated for construction.

The letter also emphasized the use of the new space as a place to foster more research. "This type of collaborative and interdisciplinary work in the sciences requires new kinds of spaces that foster new levels of interaction."

The site will remain in the pre-construction phase until finals week and commencement in May, for which construction will be on a temporary moratorium. Once students are home for the summer, pre-construction will continue until the fall of 2007, when it will again be halted so as not to interfere with fall sports and the beginning of the academic year. Construction will re-resume with the groundbreaking, which is scheduled to begin in February of 2008. Columbia administrators say they plan to complete the project in the fall of 2010.