Manhattan Neighborhood Network
NYC Center for Media Education
Henry Hall. 509 West 38th Street. Floors 3 & 4
New York City
Combined Square Footage: 23,651 sf
3rd floor: 11,374 sf
4th floor: 12,277 sf
Scope:
Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) acquired, fit-out and equipped the 3rd and 4th floors of 509 West 38th Street (“Henry Hall”), a new commercial condominium residential tower in the Hudson Yards neighborhood. The two floors were delivered as a white space and MNN engaged Kostow Greenwood Architects to complete the architecture and interiors to create a state-of-the-art media and education center on the two designated floors.
The new NYC Center for Media Education housed at MNN’s 38th Street location offers in-person classes in state-of-the-art facilities with expert instructors.
The design for MNN’s newest location represents the third time that MNN has engaged Kostow Greenwood Architects including the award-winning preservation and adaptation of a firehouse in East Harlem into the MNN Community Media Arts Center.
Design Concept:
As the landscape for public access television evolves, MNN expands their programming to meet new demands in the community broadcast media environment.
This expansion is driven by a desire to offer professional training at all levels of media production. Having a new purpose built facility to accommodate and support media education and community use serves MNN’s mission and expands public resources to reflect the bold creativity and diversity of the community of users.
The epicenter of the 3rd floor is The Hub, a multi-functional communal gathering space for collaborative work, casual meetings or simply to pause before moving on to a production studio to create content or a classroom for media production training. The social gathering options create an ideal incubator environment shared by staff, students, and community members. The Hub also supports pre-function needs for the 48 seat multi-purpose screening room. Additional spaces that support content creation on the 3rd floor include controls rooms, open editing workstations, training classrooms, video production and podcast studios, a green room and hair & makeup room, and set storage.
The fourth floor includes offices for administrative, education leadership and executive staff, technical operations and Master Control. The 4th floor production suite includes a large studio specially designed for virtual video production, control room, edit suites, a small conference room, lounge and pantry.
Materials/Resources
Wall Covering in The Hub – Flavor Paper
Acoustic Screen Panels – Arkurta
Felt Panels, Screening Room – Designtex’ Wannabee, 100% recycled
Ceramic Tile – Daltile
Lighting: Sconces – Koncept, Marset, Sonneman
Lighting: Pendants – Pablo
Lighting: Track – Intense Lighting
Lighting: Modular – Coronet
Decorative Glass – Pulp Studio
Carpet – Bentley, Flor, Mohawk Group
AntiStatic Carpet – StaticWork
Furniture – Blu Dot, Knoll, Orange Box, Steelcase
Program:
– 2 large black box studios with VR capabilities
– 2 video production and podcast studios
– 3 control rooms
– 3 digital editing suites
– 6 open editing workstations
– 2 dedicated media classrooms
– 1 Green Room/Hair & Make-up Room
– 1 Master Control Room
– Several conference rooms and breakout spaces
– 1 screening room/theatrical space to accommodate 48 people
– Executive and Administrative Office Space
Design Team
Architecture: Kostow Greenwood Architects
Interiors: Kostow Greenwood Architects
Construction Management: Benchmark Builders
Owners Representative: Landair
MEP/FP Engineering: AMA Group USA
Structural Engineering: McLaren Engineering Group
Acoustical Design: Eligator Acoustics
Broadcast Integration: Diversified
Theatrical Lighting: Organic Design
Telecommunications: TMT Technology Partners
Architectural Lighting: Loop Lighting
Photo Credits: Adrian Wilson