Lycée Français de New York

The new building unifies the school, previously dispersed in five separate buildings throughout the upper east side of Manhattan. Located on a thru-block site, the new building is comprised of two five-story structures connected by three full-lot floors and a north-south bridge at the second level with a central landscaped rooftop courtyard. At each level, the central space acts as the heart of the Lycée, defining a French Cultural Center for the school. Shared school-wide program spaces such as libraries, cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasia unify the school at the three lower levels. A series of grand stairways vertically link these major spaces within. The overall spatial organization of the building and its exterior articulation convey the rigorous ordering of the program and the classroom module and express the three-dimensional structural system of the building. The building’s identity is a dialogue between north/south solar orientation and contrasting materials of glass and masonry that combine to express its cultural duality.