Joyce B. Cowin Center, Columbia TC

Teachers College faced a long-standing problem: where to hold a really big conference? The college could host events for small groups under 200, but had no proper venue for larger groups except in the Horace Mann Auditorium, where rear seats had obstructed views. Teachers College selected H3 to solve this problem and create a state-of-the-art facility. H3's design transforms the Mann Auditorium into the Cowin Center, named for a major donor and trustee of the college, and includes a suite of classrooms, seminar rooms, breakout rooms and improved restrooms. The new 600-person auditorium features a complete change in structure with enhanced acoustics, expanded lighting capacity, air conditioning and heating systems, access ramps for the disabled and state-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities. H3's design provides for large lectures and multimedia presentations, but can also host concert performances for music, dance and theater. The ground floor is divided into seminar rooms for a total capacity of 350 and serves as break-out space for conferences or as venues for lectures and small meetings.