92nd STREET YM/YWHA CAMP

NEW YORK, NY

The 92nd Street Y is a world-renowned cultural institution famous for its performing arts programs, art and education programs, health and fitness facilities and its other civic, artistic and religious programming.

As part of the Y’s summer camp program, new facilities were needed at the camp site in Rockland County, New York. 4,000 square feet of instructional space was added for ceramics, painting and nature/environmental education. The facilities are intended for children, including children with special needs, during the summer. In fall, winter and spring the Y’s older population uses the facilities for their seniors programs.

Located at the edge of a wooded portion of the site, three new buildings comprise the new arts village. Taking cues from the existing simple shed shelters at the campgrounds, the new buildings extend the sheds with shapely dormers that enliven the form and admit filtered daylight. Post-and-beam construction and exposed wood interiors lend the buildings a rustic feel. The buildings have a long-lasting standing-seam metal roof, energy-efficient natural ventilation, and fire detection and security systems to help protect the premises during shut-down periods.

Buildings are situated close amongst the existing trees and the buildings stand above the ground on raised piers, making minimal impact on the site. Gentle grading changes and landscaped paths provide wheelchair accessibility to each building. Recycled stones found on the site are used to make stone walls that define the perimeter of the arts village and offer outdoor seating facing the nearby ball field and pedestrian pathways.

2010 AIA NYS Institutional Award of Merit

Completed: 1999
Cost: $1.1 Million