The Plan: New Mass Timber SUNY Maritime Building Leans Into Learning

Attention on deck! Class is in session at the newest building on the State University of New York Maritime College campus in the Bronx. 

Landow and Landow Architects (L&L) has long partnered with SUNY Maritime College on different projects across the campus, and recently completed the William Austen Marine Education and Seamanship Center. It’s the first mass timber structural system within the entire SUNY system. 

The use of the material for the two-story building at the entrance to the college’s East River pier and directly below the Throgs Neck Bridge significantly cut its carbon emissions when compared to the concrete and steel that the builders originally planned to use. 

“The idea is that you’re taking timber when it’s at the peak of its carbon sequestration, so it’s really maxed out what it can take from the environment, and it’s a much more environmentally friendly material to use,” said Glen Landow, a partner with L&L and the lead designer on the building. “So, we switched from a steel building, redesigned it as a mass timber building, and that meant the entire structural system was going to change, but it also meant that the aesthetic of the building was going to change, because we wanted to emphasize the wood everywhere we possibly could.”

All of the building’s structural elements were left intentionally exposed to give students a glimpse of how this material functions. 

Originally, the William Austen Marine Education and Seamanship Center was meant to be only a one-story laboratory and boathouse situated above the pier. However, the building’s location was moved to comply with environmental rules.

“There was an issue that came down from a government agency that said you cannot have enclosed space over the seabed,” Landow said. “There was a discussion that went on for about a year between the campus and the government agency … and, ultimately, the agency said, ‘Listen, if you build it on land, it’s out of our hands. There’s nothing we can do about it.’ So the college shifted the building to its current location, which used to be a parking lot.” 

The first floor of the building is home to a wet science laboratory for hands-on learning and experiments. Tanks lining the walls of the classroom and facing a sweeping view of the harbor allow students to bring in water from the river to conduct experiments, and then a drainage system lets the water flow back out into the river. 

The second floor is home to classroom space for the college’s Marine Transportation Department, which offers instruction on managing the finances and other business operations of a shipping company.

The college wanted the design of the building to incorporate the stunning views of the Throgs Neck Bridge, the training ship Empire State, and the New York City skyline. It’s a good thing the students’ desks face away from those windows, because it would be impossible to get any work done with scenery like that to distract you.