Barnard College’s Diana Center is a Green-Roofed Gem in NYC

<a href="http://www.barnard.edu/">Barnard College</a>, one of the prestigious 'Seven Sisters' schools on the East Coast, made a bold eco statement this last year with its newest arts center located on Broadway Ave in Manhattan. Named after a former student who donated 1/3 of the cost of the building, the <a href="http://www.barnard.edu/diana/about/green.html" target="_blank">Diana Center</a> includes a long checklist of <a href="../sustainable-building" target="_blank">green building</a> strategies that meet LEED Silver standards. Since its opening in February, the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/green-roof/">green-roofed</a> building has won a Progressive Architecture Award as well as the AIA New York State "Award of Excellence" and the "Best in New York State" award.

The new multi-use arts center for Barnard College is located on Broadway in Morningside Heights.

The project was designed to be a vibrant new center for the school. It also includes a host of green building strategies.

The building has a partial green roof, and much of the pavement around the building was transformed into landscaped terraces.

Weiss/Manfredi are responsible for the design of the 98,000 square-foot mixed-use campus building.

The new 98,000 square-foot campus building includes multiple arts programs like <a href="../architecture/" target="_blank">architecture</a> and painting studios, a 500-seat <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/06/opera-house-for-quebec-made-completely-from-shipping-pallets/" target="_blank">performance space</a>, and a black box theater. The center also features a cafe and a reading room in addition to classrooms and exhibition galleries.

A double-story atria and a staircase of windows on the exterior of the building help open up the interior to natural daylight.

A staircase carves out a place for itself as it rises up through the building -- it even cantilevers out over the street.

An abundance of natural light and bright spaces make this a dynamic, attractive and inspiring building to study in.

The Diana Center and Weiss/Manfredi are the winners of two AIA awards and a Progressive Architecture Award since the building's opening in February 2010.

The Diana Center includes a number of green building strategies that make it eligible for LEED Silver certification, which it is currently pursuing.

Besides the green roof and landscaping, the Diana Center includes daylighting, natural ventilation, an energy-efficient HVAC system, low-flow water fixtures, automatic lighting control and eco-friendly building materials.

Landscaping and views were given considerable weight in the design of the Diana Center.

The exterior is clad in a curtain wall made of colored brick-red glass and frit glass to provide shading and natural daylight without overheating.

The slice of green roof features a number of different plant types and provides extra space for students to sit outdoors.

A large part of the interior is cut away to move light through the building.

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There are seven stories of multi-use programs in the Diana Center.