This extension on the Fashion Institute of Technology Campus is centred on the creation of a vertical quad, open to students, faculty and administration staff all year round. A large capacity express escalator brings faculty members and students directly from the existing campus to an open, column-free planted garden floor that is bathed in sunlight throughout the winter and shaded from the sun during the summer.

The building and its central atrium have been shaped to maximise daylight and allow natural ventilation for most of the year. High and low level vents can be opened during cool days and at night to temper the atrium and North Quad garden space.