Lycée Français de New York – Educational
505 E 75th Street – 158,000 sf – new private school building construction included a large scale environmental remediation program at the project site directly adjacent to Con Edison power plant and the FDR Highway. Environmental soils and rock clean up, dewatering and well point system installation surrounding the project site was completed during the excavation/ foundation phase. Adjacent property shoring and underpinning support systems were designed and installed to successfully support the structures during the 70 ton rock line drilling and blasting program during excavation. Located on a through-block site, two five-story structures are connected by three full-lot floors and a north-south bridge at the second level. Shared program spaces such as libraries, cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasia unify the school at the three lower levels. The school is organized around a central landscaped rooftop courtyard accessible to both upper and lower schools. Contrasting materials respond to the building’s north/south orientation, define the exterior identity of the school and express different aspects of the school’s history and mission. South façades are pre-cast concrete, and north façades are primarily a translucent channel glass system. A framework of horizontal channels and vertical column enclosures unifies the overall design. Eight 5 foot by 10 foot reinforced concrete spandrel beams span across the entire width of the building over the two below ground gymnasiums and auditorium at the ground floor. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and France’s former president Jacques Chirac attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the school’s first semester.