The Academic Center brings faculty and students together to focus on learning in mathematics and English in a unique custom built environment. Three adjoining storefront spaces were transformed to create a tutoring center in the midst of faculty offices, so that students have easy access to their professors and the Academic Dean. Development of the project required close collaboration between the design team and faculty to gain an understanding of the different types of learning environments that would be helpful in working with the students. Our team of architectural designers, furniture designers, and fabricators from our affiliated multidisciplinary design studio, Think Fabricate, designed custom furnishing elements and prefabricated wall systems for the facility. These included custom designed tables where two students and a teacher share a sliding white board and computer monitor but each have their own key board; custom designed tables configured for group meetings; and faculty work tables in prefabricated offices for one-on-one tutoring. The center is visible through newly created window openings which feature glass in a gradient of transparencies. Dark colors were used to distinguish the center from the rest of the hallway. A new security desk and a reception desk were designed to further establish the unique character of the facility.

American School & University Outstanding Design Award 2011

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This former auto repair shop was transformed into a sleek, state-of-the-art culinary arts facility for Monroe College’s School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts, with sparkling stainless steel equipment and accent colors.

The centers open plan layout responds to the faculty’s vision of a flexible learning space with the concurrent uses typical in a large commercial kitchen, and includes a banquet battery, one pastry battery, and two a la carte kitchen areas organized around a service spine. Unlike a typical commercial kitchen the space was designed for visual transparency, in keeping with the college’s commitment to creating a culinary education showcase. The vestibule functions as an observation point for kitchen activities. Its angled portal into the pastry area follows the slope of the dramatic ceiling within, which conceals ductwork while enabling natural light to permeate the space from the buildings high windows.The glazed windows with sunshades for integral climate control, provides a view of student chefs from the adjoining courtyard, a major campus gathering space. A “hands-on” approach among the project team led to meeting the college’s goal for completing the facility from design through construction in less than five months, just in time for the start of school in September.

McGraw-Hill Construction Best of 2007 Award

American School & University Outstanding Design Award 2008

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Doban Architecture  has completed more than 50 Capital Improvement projects for the SCA with a total construction budget of more than $50 million. These projects range from multi-million dollar exterior modernizations and HVAC upgrades to interior projects aimed at supporting the Dept. of Education’s goals such as a robotics lab, auditorium and library.

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The modular “pods” were conceived to be assembled off site and installed with very minimal disruption to student life in an occupied loft-style college dormitory. This installation is the second application of the same design strategy and palettes at the college, which is maximizing use of available vacant apartments in the downtown area. The playful pattern and mix of materials was conceived to minimize material waste. This makes economic and environmental sense, but also results in a playful appearance that appealed to the students and college administration alike. The L-shaped plan of the units provides stability to the units, allowing one end to be anchored to the wall, with a characteristic vertical element anchored to the ceiling at the “floating” end. The colors and textures of the walls make a repetitive system appealing and interesting to the students who live there.Doban Architecture previously designed the award-winning façade restoration of this building as part of the New Rochelle Model Development Block project, working for the BID and the Community Preservation Corporation.

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Allison Hall embodies the transformation of Monroe College’s New Rochelle facilities from a string of renovated storefronts, to a campus with a uniquely identifiable presence, visible from the downtown business district.

Through its siting and massing, this residence hall visually engages pedestrians on Main Street and motorists along this busy one-way thoroughfare, which is also U.S. Route One. The buildings’s tower element is cantilevered over the main entrace, creating a dramatic focal point both day and night. The new six-story, residence hall houses 200 students in 50 suites, and is located on the former parking lot of the Librett’s Hardware Store, adjacent to Milavec Hall, a building which was converted to office and classroom use by the College in 2002 and also designed by Doban Architecture. AN efficient plan and fast-track construction pace made this building successful for the college in every respect. Close teamwork among the architect , college, and construction manager contributed to meeting the college’s ambitious 10-month construction schedule.

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West Hall integrates all aspects of learning and campus life with its 300-bed design and centrally located cafeteria.

The building is envisioned as a partner to the nearby Allison Hall and uses the same palette of materials. Both buildings are designed to activate the street life of main street with open, glazed storefronts and facade elements. This new dormitory also features a cafeteria which will seat 190 students, classrooms and offices and serves as the heart of the campus.

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This former tenant office space now serves as the new home of Monroe’s graduate schools of management and criminal justice. The color scheme evolved from one we developed earlier in 2010 for the department of athletics offices located on the east side of the same building. Campus standard finishes were upgraded selectively to convey a character appropriate for graduate studies. Eight classrooms, including two hybrid rooms for learning at conventional tables and computer work stations, and a large, divisible multi-purpose room, are included in the facility. A dramatic lounge space welcomes graduate students into the space. In keeping with the college’s instructional philosophy, faculty offices are located within the facility, in close proximity to the instructional space. Base building improvements, including new mechanical systems and unit, were included in the project, which was designed and constructed in record time.

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A combined strategy of replacement and renewal was employed to prevent hazardous cracking limestone shards from falling away from the building onto the ground at this elementary school designed in 1934 by Walkter C. Martin.

This project is one of more than 65+ capital improvement projects located throughout the five boroughs and completed by Doban Architecture for the New York City School Construction Authority.

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A series of repairs was targeted to restore and modernize the exterior envelope of this 33,000 SF brick and limestone building designed in 1899 by renowned school architect C.B. J. Snyder.

This project is one of more than 65+ capital improvement projects located throughout the fiveboroughs and completed by Doban Architecture for the New York City School Construction Authority.

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Not only does the design for Milavec Hall bring light and openness to a damp, dark, abandoned former retail building; it creates a gateway for the new east campus of Monroe College.

This 20,000 sf building is located in the former Librett’s Hardware Store and would be naturally dark because it was built into a hill. Our solution was to create a large center space with a feature skylight to bring in natural light and create a focal point. Knowing that the future neighboring building would be much taller, Milavec Hall was conceived as a gate that would someday span between two taller dormitories and its facade is articulated as a series of large piers. Extensive reconstruction of the facade, a new roof, and refurbishment of the slab and exterior foundation walls was required to make the building watertight and provide universal access. Economicial materials typically used by the College were enlivened by careful use of color and enhanced by using a limited amount of higher grade finishes in select areas. The new palette has become the College’s standard, implemented in the subsequent renovations of existing buildings on the campus as well as new construction. Finer materials such as granite and linestone at the facade and custom light fixtures were used to demarcate the importance of the building as the administrative centerpiece of the educational institution.

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