F.J. Sciame Const. celebrates topping off of LEED-certified Cooper Union

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art recently held a topping out ceremony to celebrate the raising of the final beam to the highest point of the college's new academic building superstructure on Third Ave. between East 6th and 7th Sts. The event's host, Dr. George Campbell Jr., president of The Cooper Union, kicked off the event and then introduced Frank Sciame, CEO of F.J. Sciame Construction Co., the construction manager for the building. The gathering met in The Peter Cooper Suite in the college's Foundation Building, 8th floor, on East 7th St. at Third Ave. The Cooper Union's new academic building will be one of the first green academic laboratories in the city. The new facility will house the Albert Nerken School of Engineering and the faculty of humanities and social sciences along with additional facilities for the School of Art and the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis, the 9-story, 175,000 s/f, full-block building incorporates a broad set of environmentally sensitive features such as a cogeneration plant, green roof and radiant heating and cooling ceiling panels. Built to Gold LEED standards with the possibility of achieving Platinum, it will also be one of the first LEED certified academic laboratory buildings in the city.