Alice H. Cook House, West Campus Residential Initiative,
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.
KieranTimberlake Associates

Collegiate Gothic reinterpreted for the new millennium

© Barry Halkin Photography

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Alice H. Cook House, along with Becker House North, is the first new dormitory constructed as part of Cornell University’s vision for redeveloping its West Campus. University planners want all new construction to compliment the original Gothic residences erected in the 1920s. KieranTimberlake made this compatibility its chief objective in addition to satisfying program demands and meeting the project budget. In designing Cook House, it focused on elucidating principles—inspired by the Gothic buildings and surrounding hilly landscape—that can provide an architectural language and template for the overall West Campus plan.

Within the new residence halls, the architect balanced the program to meet phasing and bed-count needs. Common spaces in the program include a seminar room, conference room, library, and offices. In addition to student rooms, the residence halls contain two faculty apartments. The building’s sinuous forms, which KieranTimberlake relates to the shape of the nearby Finger Lakes, run counter to the grade of Libe Slope to take full advantage of daylight exposure and maximize sunlight into the House Greens and common spaces.

The architect intentionally skewed the axis of buildings in the new residential quadrangle to create a dynamic tension with the rigid alignment of the original 1920s dormitories. Facades and rooflines also take on and challenge the language of the site. Most elevations are clad in brick that resembles the older Llenroc stone of the original buildings, but the ends of each wing are clad in slate. These ends, which have a lower roofline, frame the new buildings and permit views to the main campus.

At ground level, KieranTimberlake treated the commons program, including dining areas, as a transparent pavilion set within the landscape. As this program clearly departs from the Gothic style of West Campus, the architect employed a more contemporary design language. This pavilion, with its green roof as an extension of the landscape and greens, allows for views to West Hill as well as within the commons and dining hall.

Formal name of Project:
Alice H. Cook House, West Campus Residential Initiative, Phase I, Cornell University

Location:
Ithaca, N.Y.

Gross square footage:
130,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$31 Million

Owner:
Cornell University
www.cornell.edu

Architect:
KieranTimberlake Associates LLP
420 North 20th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-922-6600 tel.
215-922-4680 fax
www.kierantimberlake.com