Madison Boys & Girls Club Central Harlem, Manhattan Facility, New York, NYC Architecture
Madison Boys & Girls Club in Harlem
Manhattan Clubhouse Architecture designed by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers
Sep 29, 2016
Madison Square Boys & Girls Club Unveils Designs for New Flagship Facility in Harlem designed by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers
Design: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers
Madison Boys & Girls Club in Harlem: the new, contemporary facility will be Madison’s flagship and provide access to much-needed resources from recreation and social interaction to academic support and technology in a safe environment.
Renderings Courtesy Rogers Partners
Madison Boys & Girls Club in Central Harlem
September 28, 2016, NEW YORK — Monday night, at a cocktail reception hosted at Minton’s by co-owners Dick Parsons and Alexander Smalls, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club (Madison) unveiled designs for a new four-story, 45,000-sq.-ft. flagship Clubhouse for young people ages 6-18, located in Central Harlem.
The Clubhouse is designed to meet to meet immediate and long-term needs of this diverse, yet underserved community that is home approximately 6,000 New Yorkers under the age of 18, many without access to the type of comprehensive services or after-school programs the new Clubhouse will provide.
According to recent census data, 71 percent of area residents did not complete high school, one in three adults face unemployment, and five out of six children live in single-parent households – all factors which can be positively affected by Madison’s programs and opportunities afterschool and during the summer.
The facility, the first ground up Boys and Girls Club built in New York since 1970, is conceived as a fresh approach to what urban Boys & Girls Clubs can provide, and will be both a central hub for Madison’s five Clubhouses and for broader community activities. Nationally acclaimed firm and recent winner of the National Honor Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architect’s Committee on Architecture for Education for its design of the Henderson-Hopkins School, ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers (Rogers Partners) is designing the new facility.
Located on a prominent corner site, with one face toward the historic viaduct on 155th Street and the other toward Jackie Robinson Park, the building is designed as both a beacon and attractor. Historically, club membership decreases as members mature, so special attention was given to make the building exciting to teen members.
In addition to visual arts, dance, music and production studios, a 500-square-foot Skybox overlooking the gym and Jackie Robinson Park offers teen members an age-specific place to socialize and gather. All members will benefit from educational spaces for tutoring and quiet learning, a screening room, digital media and technology labs, and spaces for dining and socialization. Once complete, the new Harlem Clubhouse will enable Madison Square Boys & Girls Club to expand its provision of life-changing services to the young people of Harlem.
Compared to Clubs built in the 1950s and 1960s, the new Harlem flagship uses transparency – of material and program – to present the Clubhouse as a special place to belong, and participate. The rooftop play area and abundant windows will offer views into a lively and richly occupied space in which healthy growth and development of all members happens daily. Internally, the building’s organization centers on a bright, open stair marked by glass-encased gathering spaces, connecting all levels visually and socially.
The Clubhouse will invite the youth of the neighborhood in for social engagement, athletic participation and educational advancement. Additionally, Madison’s executive headquarters, currently housed in midtown, will be co-located in the Harlem flagship Clubhouse. “Our new Clubhouse will provide access to much-needed resources for the boys and girls of Central Harlem and the surrounding community,” remarked Joseph Patuleia, Executive Director, Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. “We can’t wait to welcome our members to this exceptional facility where they can grow, learn, play and thrive for generations to come.”
Since its founding in 1884, Madison has dedicated itself to serving diverse populations and providing safe, nurturing, fun and educational environments for New York City boys and girls. The design of the facility draws upon Madison’s rich history and will offer the young people of the neighborhood a range of much-needed amenities and a safe place to go. “We are honored and delighted to create a vibrant new flagship for the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club and the community,” said Robert M. Rogers, founder, Rogers Partners, “Our design is conceived to create a place of opportunity, education and excitement that fosters participation, social interaction and long-lasting relationships for Madison members of all ages.”
About Madison Boys & Girls Club
A founding member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in New York City, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club has been serving and enhancing the lives of the city’s most disadvantaged communities since 1884. Madison Clubhouses provide thousands of children with a safe and positive environment, one where fun is encouraged and positive role models are plentiful.
Programs are engineered to empower each member to achieve three priority outcomes: Academic Success, Good Character & Citizenship, and the adoption of a Healthy Lifestyle. Madison currently serves more than 5,000 youth, ages 6 to 18, annually at four Clubhouses throughout Brooklyn and the Bronx every year. www.madisonsquare.org.
About ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers
Based in New York City, ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers (Rogers Partners) is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary studio nationally recognized for the design of provocative and transformative public spaces. Rogers Partners designs regenerative 21st-century environments where architecture, landscapes, and urban spaces converge.
The firm’s projects have won more than 65 design and industry awards and have been presented in exhibitions at prestigious institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Notable projects include the Henderson-Hopkins School in Baltimore, MD; the SandRidge Energy Commons corporate campus in Oklahoma City, OK; and the new headquarters for international advertising firm Droga5 in New York City.
Current projects include the redesign of Constitution Gardens on the National Mall and President’s Park South, both in Washington, DC; Buckhead Park Over GA400, a new park built atop a highway in Atlanta, GA; The New St. Petersburg Pier, a competition-winning new design of an iconic city pier in St. Petersburg, FL; and a new K-8 school integrated into the Drexel University campus in downtown Philadelphia. www.rogersarchitects.com.
Madison Boys & Girls Club Harlem images / information from ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers, 280916
733 Third Avenue, Floor 2, New York, New York 10017
Location: Jackie Robinson Park, Harlem, New York City, USA
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