The East Wing Project will be achieved through renovation and reconfiguration of existing spaces and expansion of the building envelope.
The current configuration of the east wing is inefficient for current use, consisting of small, poorly arranged classrooms, substandard departmental offices and narrow corridors. Many classrooms were built with portable walls which are not soundproof and tile ceilings which have exceeded their useful life. Lighting and energy technology are also outdated and inefficient. The administrative area on the first floor consists of a series of enclosed shared offices which discourage collegiality and interaction.
Two primary and significant changes will facilitate improvements to the east wing:
1) Closing an elevator which allows for the relocation of a corridor;
2) Expanding the building envelope by ten feet.
In total, East Wing Project improvements include:
- New chapel
- 9 new classrooms to replace the existing 8 small and inconvenient ones
- New ceilings, walls, LED lighting and upgraded technology in all classrooms
- Counseling suite with 9 offices
- Relocated and expanded Religious Studies Department office
- Relocated and expanded Social Studies Department office
- Expanded nurse’s office
- Relocated and expanded IT office and storage
- Elimination of portable walls
- Completely renovated administration offices
- New first floor admissions suite
- Improved energy usage through substantial roof and wall insulation, double glazed windows and solar shading and wall insulation, double glazed windows and solar shading
Together, these changes permit us to build larger and more efficient classrooms, much-improved faculty offices and an open office approach to the administrative area which will greatly improve the efficiency of the space and open it with views of the outdoors. Corridor relocation will also allow the consolidation of all counseling services and the college room on the third floor, by creating a counseling center.
In turn, creating a third-floor counseling center allows the Prep to improve the area south of the Commons, permitting admissions to relocate there, expanding the nurse’s office, giving the nurse’s office a direct exit to the exterior and adding a new classroom.
The library mezzanine will be repurposed for a new chapel, religion department office, group study area and IT office and storage.
These changes will yield substantial improvements that make maximum use of space as well utilize topline technology. They will increase group study space and classroom seats; and reshape the interior atmosphere of our campus.
As a Jesuit secondary school, Fordham Prep seeks excellence in teaching and learning. The East Wing Project reflects our commitment to excellence through creating a student-centered state-of-the-art environment in which teaching and learning take place.
The Prep also seeks to make the building more accommodating for a student enrollment of 960-1,000 students. The addition of Boller Science Center (adding a fourth floor) and the new entranceway and lobby have created new learning and social spaces to better accommodate our ideal enrollment. The East Wing Project advances this vision and goal throughout the east wing of the building.
Igniting Our Mission 