HVCC Reconfiguration and Reconstruction of Fitzgibbons Hall

Troy, New York

Mosaic was selected as design architect and project manager for the reconfiguration and reconstruction of college buildings at Hudson Valley Community College covering 100,000 square feet of existing space.

The project included the redesign of areas vacated by the Science Department when it moved into the new landmark Science Center designed by Mosaic; organizing limited space to comfortably accommodate six academic departments; asbestos abatement; renovation of toilet rooms, stairwells and corridors; and mechanical, electrical, plumbing and AV/IT upgrades.

Across Brahan Hall, Amstuz Hall and Fitzgibbons Center, dark, cramped offices were opened up into more useable and comfortable space. Appropriate sized classrooms were created to supplement the smaller, more crowded classrooms elsewhere on campus. Departments once scattered across campus were reunited in spaces designed specifically for them.

As departments gained the conveniences and synergies of being on the main campus, they actually gave up some of the physical space they had occupied away from the center of campus life.  Mosaic ameliorated this design challenge by working closely with college representatives and faculty members from the Business, Fine Arts, English, Criminal Justice, Individual Studies and Liberal Arts departments to determine how to best use the space. 

Mosaic was responsible for all phases of design and construction, from programming for six separate academic departments through final closeout of construction contracts. Care was taken to leave unaltered as much of the buildings’ structural systems as possible for efficiency of design space and budget. Mechanical and plumbing chases were reused in the new design to utilize infrastructure that was already in place.

The reconstruction of the third floor of Fitzgibbons Center to house Individual Studies and Liberal Arts created a large, welcoming suite for the ever-growing Individual Studies population on the south-west corner of the floor, with a New Student Academic Planning Room and Liberal Arts Advising suite to the east.

By reducing the initial number of offices desired and creating an open work area, the design was able to accommodate competing needs. With only two existing windows in the space, and no option to add more, providing natural light was a significant challenge.

By locating the two windows in the open work area with the offices around the perimeter, the light from the windows is allowed to penetrate deep into the space. In addition to the existing windows, the new entrance and conference room windows are designed to maximize the borrowed light from the existing curtain wall across the corridor.

Four classrooms and two testing rooms, one of which serves as a distance learning classroom, as well as various faculty and administrative areas were created from the existing lab and technical services spaces. Existing toilet rooms were renovated and brought to code for the increased occupant load, with a new unisex toilet room created adjacent the existing toilet facilities.