NewYork-Presbyterian The Beacon

The design establishes intuitive connections among services, including comprehensive cancer care, bringing clarity to the patient, team, and visitor experience. Resonating with the surrounding architecture at the lower levels, the building transitions to a lighter lantern-like structure above. Aiming to welcome everyone, the design imbues confidence and enhances accessibility across the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus and wider neighborhood.

Located on a dense urban site in Washington Heights, the 16-story building will serve as the new southern gateway to the medical campus, which has been at the forefront of health care and academic research for more than 150 years. A generous, naturally lit lobby on the ground floor establishes an inviting point of arrival for patients and visitors, offering access to amenities and improving connections to the existing courtyard garden.

Simplifying the check-in experience, the lobby connects to healthcare services on the levels above, which are organized into two distinct, stacked volumes. The lower volume incorporates state-of-the-art spaces for ambulatory surgery and imaging—programs that require minimal natural light and shorter patient stays. Its textured, mineral façade is designed to dialogue with the color and materiality of the surrounding 1920s brick buildings. As the building rises, it becomes visually lighter and more transparent, marking the campus’ transition to an inviting, contemporary space with views of the city’s skyline and Hudson River.

Exam, infusion, and diagnostic spaces are consolidated in the upper volume, where they are co-located on each floor, significantly easing patient travel throughout the building. These upper levels are insulated from the hum of the street, offering patients their preferred levels of privacy and the opportunity for social connection. A gently curving glass facade brings natural daylight inside while outside the architecture signals a bright new era of health care.

Targeting LEED Gold for Healthcare, the design is pursuing a range of strategies to minimize its environmental impact. These range from low-carbon building materials to bird-safe fritted glass and garden terraces on the middle level where staff can relax and enjoy a landscape supporting biodiversity. The design also enhances public access to shared green spaces where the neighborhood can come together and relax, recognizing that health care is part of a wider social act of caring and looking out for one another.