Kate Whitehead | March 01, 2011
It was during a lunch for 300 at Gehry Partners's first completed New York project, the IAC headquarters, that media and education entrepreneur Chris Whittle announced another first, the September 2012 opening of his Avenues: The World School. Envisioned as part of an eventual global network of 20 for-profit locations, preschool through high school, the flagship will occupy a 10-story Cass Gilbert warehouse abutting the High Line park.
Also a first for Bonetti/Kozerski Studio, the 215,000-square-foot interior represents the firm's debut in the educational sector. "We're experienced with commercial spaces, and we know how they can have a positive impact on an entire organization. A school offers the same opportunity, if not a greater one," Enrico Bonetti says. Dominic Kozerski adds, "We're excited by the possibility of students learning from our built environment, like a 3-D textbook." Bonetti and Kozerski are planning concrete floors, glass-brick walls, wooden ceilings, and large video screens throughout. A small side entry will welcome preschoolers. Older students will enter through Gilbert's original copper doors.