Bronx Multi-Use Facility Will Pair Community Center With School

NEW YORK — Officials broke ground on the $83 million New Settlement Community Campus, a pre-K-through-12th-grade public school in the Bronx with a nonprofit community center.

The four-story, 172,000-square-foot school and community center will include an indoor swimming facility, a primary and intermediate/high school, a library, auditorium and gymnasium. The school will serve approximately 1,100 elementary, middle and high school students.

The facility, expected to be completed by 2012, was co-developed by Settlement Housing Fund and the New York City School Construction Authority. New Settlement Apartments, a subsidiary of New Settlement Community Campus, will operate the community center, its swimming pool and several social service programs, and provide facilities management for the school and the center.

The gymnasium, school facilities and recreation yards will be available for after-hours use by the local community.

Dattner Architects and Edelman Sultan Knox Wood Architects, both of New York, designed the center. Turner Construction Co. is building the center, while URS Corp. is providing construction management services.

The center will be built of brick but will include zinc panels and a curtain wall to create a focal point.

Different-colored brick was used in different patterns for each of the school’s classroom wings, and the zinc, which was used on the school’s auditorium, will oxidize and darken over time to resemble shingles, says David Levine, project manager of Dattner Architects.

The facility is planned with several green features including dedicated building spaces for the collection of recycled materials, natural lighting in 75 percent of the regularly occupied areas and controls for lighting, heating and cooling.

Up to 75 percent of construction waste will be collected, segregated and diverted from landfill disposal and recycled and 10 percent of the new building material will contain recycled content, according to planners.

School officials are aiming to reach 27 points from the “School Construction Authority Green School Guide,” making the building comparable to a LEED-certified facility.