The new Weill Greenberg Center establishes a new institutional identity for the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and heralds a new era in personalized medicine. The design of this new world-class center creates an environment that promotes health and healing, while recognizing the stature of the College’s eminent physicians and state-of-the-art clinical services.

This 15-story, 330,000-sq.-ft. building is the first of the College’s clinical facilities to be built on the west side of York Avenue, which expands the campus westward. In contrast to the clinical image of the New York Hospital complex, which represents an amalgamation of architectural styles developed over time, the new building, with its singular identity, integrates itself into the everyday fabric of the city and provides an elegant, reassuring, and welcoming face for healthcare.

Sheathed entirely in glass, which was selected for its open, transparent qualities and experiential richness, the building symbolizes the progressive identity of the institution. The water-white, ceramic, fritted-glass curtainwall, which is cut into long vertical facets, veils the building, generating a softness and depth for the building’s undulating reflective surface. From the interior, this translucent skin subdues the hustle and bustle of the city and gently shapes the flow of natural light.

A convenient interior vehicle drop-off facilitates seamless and private patient arrivals and departures. Accessibility and ease-of-use are supported by the incorporation of valet parking and a high level of personalized service typically equated with a fine hotel.

Project category: New construction (completed January 2007)

Chief administrator: Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, (212) 746-6005

Firms: Polshek Partnership Architects, (212) 807-7171; Ballinger, (215) 446-0900

Design team: Todd H. Schliemann, FAIA, Design Partner; Duncan R. Hazard, AIA, Management Partner; Thomas J. Wong, AIA, Senior Designer; Lois E. Mate, AIA, Project Manager (Polshek Partnership Architects) Edward Jakmauh, AIA, Principal-Director of Health Facilities Planning; Louis Meilink, Jr., AIA, Principal/Project Manager (Ballinger)

Photography: © David Sundberg/Esto; © Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Total building area (sq. ft.): 330,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $394

Total construction cost (excluding land): $130,000,000

The main lobby is characterized by a series of water features that enhance the sense of calm and, in combination with the diffused natural light, ease patient stress and anxiety. Intimate seating alcoves are scattered throughout. Natural materials constitute the lobby’s material palette. From the lobby, visitors ascend escalators to the Patient Resource Center, an education facility for patients’ use.

The Weill Greenberg Center delivers state-of-the-art ambulatory care, medical education, and clinical research. Clinical services include general and diagnostic cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, neurology, reproductive medicine, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, pain management, and a full floor dedicated to radiological services. The Clinical Skills Center is a state-of-the-art teaching and testing facility. The building also includes the Institute for Computational Medicine and the Department of Genetic Medicine.