This dynamic building, on a prominent urban site, provides state-of-the-art facilities for the oldest K-12 private school in the United States.

Established in 1628, Collegiate has a long history of providing the highest level of education to its student body. The new facility, with nine floors and two cellars, houses state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, a gymnasium, a practice gymnasium, an auditorium, a black box theater and a cafeteria.

Each school within Collegiate—Lower, Middle, and Upper—has its own common flexible learning environment customized to each age group’s learning needs. The stacked commons, joined with the celebrated stairs, continue the school’s vertical culture, introducing Collegiate’s long history and traditions into its new home on the Upper West Side.In collaboration with the project’s Interior Designer STUDIOS, KPF developed the concept of the Nucleus, the heart of activity for each of Collegiate’s nine floors, which differ according to the floor’s age group or theme. On classroom floors, the Nucleus provides adjacent spaces that allow teachers to break up students into working groups and then easily monitor them as they work. These spaces also provide study and social space outside of classroom activity.