Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NYU to Open New Academic Center in Greenwich Village

  • By Matt Jones
  • 01/12/23

New York University in New York City is getting ready to open its newest academic building, the John A. Paulson Center. The 735,000-square-foot vertical campus in Greenwich Village was designed by Davis Brody Bond and KieranTimberlake, according to a news release, and its purpose is to both demonstrate and encourage students’ academic and social lives. The facility includes academic, athletic, performing arts, and residential space, as well as common areas and a pedestrian corridor open to the public.

The center is named after NYU alumnus John A. Paulson, who contributed a $100-million gift toward the building’s construction. A news release reports that the gift is the largest that the NYU Washington Square Campus has ever received, as well as the largest building that NYU has built in the Washington Square core. Construction began in 2016, and the building is scheduled to open this month.

“Great cities need great universities, and universities need space to fulfill their academic missions,” said NYU President Andrew Hamilton. “The Mercer site [named for the building’s placement on Mercer Street] is a once-in-a-generation campus building, and its singleness is matched only by the uncommon generosity of John Paulson’s extraordinary gift. We are honored by his support for the University and particularly this building, which fulfills so many crucial needs for NYU now and far into the future. We are immensely grateful to him, and thrilled to recognize him by naming the building the John A. Paulson Center.”

The Paulson Center features 58 classrooms; athletic facilities for men’s and women’s basketball, fencing, wrestling, volleyball, and squash, as well as a six-lane pool; performance spaces including a proscenium theater, warehouse theater, orchestra ensemble room, and support space for the School of Music; three residential towers with space for 407 freshmen and 42 faculty apartments; communal study spaces; 25,000 square feet of green roof space; and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, according to the news release.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Zurn Elkay Releases 2025 Sustainability Report

    Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently announced the release of its annual sustainability report, according to a news release. The 2025 report discusses the organization’s efforts to maintain good environmental stewardship and the solutions provided in helping customers meet sustainability goals.

  • UNT Dallas Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for $100M STEM Building

    The University of North Texas at Dallas in Dallas, Texas, recently celebrated the opening of its new, $100-million STEM Building, according to local news. The ceremony on Dec. 2 preceded the first day of classes in the facility on Jan. 12, 2026.

  • Geometric abstract school illustration

    How Design Shapes Learning and Success

    Can the color of a wall, the curve of a chair, or the hum of fluorescent lights really affect how a student learns? More schools are beginning to think so.