Construction manager Richter+Ratner (R+R) and architect Beyer Blinder Belle have completed the interior fit-out of Xavier High School’s 45,000 s/f Fernandez-Duminuco Hall.
The project is located on six floors and the cellar level of a new 25-story, mixed-use building at 35 West 15th Street.
Xavier is a Jesuit college preparatory school for young men founded in 1847 in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The school’s campus includes six buildings located alongside the Church of Saint Francis Xavier.
“Fernandez-Duminuco Hall is Xavier’s first campus expansion in more than 90 years. It has provided our community of nearly 1,100 students and 84 full-time faculty members with state-of-the-art classrooms, large common spaces, and a special emphasis on robotics and music education,” said Xavier President Jack Raslowsky, a parent of a 2016 graduate.
The nine-month-long project called for the construction of a STEAM classroom, ultramodern music facilities, a recording studio, a student project space, and a flexible multi-use area that hosts theater productions and major assemblies.
The new facilities are next door to Xavier’s existing buildings and are connected to one of them on floors two, three, and five, according to R+R CEO & President Marc Heiman.
Fernandez-Duminuco Hall is located within a larger 170,000 s/f, 330-foot tall luxury residential condominium tower named 35XV, which was designed by FXFowle.
The developer, Alchemy Properties, obtained the air rights for the new building from Xavier High School in exchange for locating the Hall inside the new development.
“This project was part of a master plan focused on clarifying the entrance and circulation among the buildings, and improving the student experience through state-of-the-art facilities, a variety of learning environments and gathering areas, and a graphic design program to enliven the common spaces with depictions of contemporary student life and the history of Xavier,” said Beyer Blinder Belle Associate Tom Lindberg, AIA, LEED AP.
The 55-condominium residential portion of the building begins almost 100 feet above ground level. The school section is accessible through a dedicated, separate entrance. There is a separate glass-clad entrance for the condominium residents at 35 West 15th Street.
The base building is clad in stone on the first six stories to indicate the location of the Xavier School and reflect the architecture of the neighboring buildings. Glass curtain wall was installed on floors seven to 25.
