The Buckley
School
Sage and Coombe oversaw the redesign and expansion of the Buckley School, a one-hundred-year-old independent day school for boys, grades K-9, located on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. Initially engaged to conceive a master plan for the project, Sage and Coombe was chosen to modernize the primary classroom building and create a cutting-edge new science, music, and art facility across the street inside two five-story townhouses.
The main building was entirely reimagined through updates to every classroom, the creation of a new lobby and new lower- and upper-school libraries, and the enhancement of the theater program by adding collapsible tiered seating to an existing lunchroom.
The front facades were meticulously preserved and restored as the two buildings were hollowed and combined into four levels of full-floor classrooms, an entry-level with a lobby and smaller classrooms, and a cellar-level housing auxiliary space. Injection grouting and state-of-the-art remediation of existing masonry were used to stabilize all parts of the original facades.
New windows were custom-built of period-appropriate materials to match the original design. Missing or damaged carved and cast stone components were recreated using historical documents. All of this work was coordinated with our application for the Landmarks Preservation Commission Permit, which was granted to our client, allowing these historical buildings to find a new life as an educational facility.
The project integrates green building principles in water management, daylighting, and natural ventilation. New structural and mechanical systems were built within this 19th-century shell to provide the school with a state-of-the-art science, music, and art facility while minimizing impact on the neighborhood and preserving the scale and character of the historic street.
The MEP systems and fixtures feature the latest technology and enhanced commissioning to increase efficiency and reduce energy and water consumption. All the public spaces in the project feature LED lighting fixtures, automatic occupancy sensors, dimming controls, and daylight harvesting to reduce electrical consumption. The project included the installation of new operable, thermally broken windows and new skylights with insulated, low-E-coated glazing to reduce solar heat gain and allow for natural ventilation.
These measures contribute to this project seeking LEED Silver Certification.
SECTION
DIAGRAM
MODEL
