by: Daniel Fox
Project: Medical Area Renovation, Morningside Heights, NY
Designer: Architecture for Humanity NY
Client: Care for the Homeless
Volunteers: Shelby Doyle, LEED AP; Deborah Buelow, LEED AP; Pollyanna Rhee
Sponsors: Häfele; 3form; Elkay Companies; Evans + Paul; AFM Safecoat; Gateway Plumbing and Heating; Bettencourt Green Building Supplies; Aura Lighting
When Care for the Homeless (CFH), a non-profit that provides medical services to at-risk populations, received a grant in 2007 from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funding did not cover the entire cost of much-needed renovations. Located in the basement of Broadway Presbyterian Church in Morningside Heights, CFH takes up 500 square feet in a space it shares with multiple homeless outreach services, including a soup kitchen and shelter operated by Broadway Community Incorporated. Providing new designs and renovations for CFH, the NY Chapter of Architecture for Humanity (AFHny), with NY-based contracting firm GO Construction Corporation, were able to maximize the budget and pursue donations and price reductions needed to start construction.
In addition to crammed quarters, CFH had long been operating in sub-par conditions — the medical and counseling team, provided by The Institute for Family Health, did not have private space to advise clients or even easy access to a sink. AFHny’s design concept applied architectural strategies to help make health care available and accessible. The renovation includes: a new exam room, triage space, two counseling rooms, two offices, reception, copy center, and storage. Translucent sliding doors tuck into pockets to maximize the limited space, built-in desks are topped with Corian for durability, and new lighting brightens the renovation. A refinished floor and steel plates cover what was once an open plumbing trough. Since the space is occupied 24 hours a day, it was important to use non-VOC paint and formaldehyde-free insulation, as neither product off gasses toxic volatile organic compounds.
While the project is too small to consider LEED certification, AFHny took into account cultural, economic, and ecologic factors, supporting its mission to sustainably provide architectural solutions to communities in need. Volunteers fostered new relationships between the non-profit clients and local building community, and the resulting renovation will hopefully prove that even when resources are scarce, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.
Shelby Doyle, LEED AP, is a designer at Cook + Fox Architects and volunteers with AFHny.