Dattner Architects is proud to celebrate the grand opening of the Stanley Manne Research Institute! Located at the Bronx High School of Science, the Manne Institute is a new state-of-the-art research building named after, and generously funded by, Bronx Science alumnus Stanley Manne. The donation from Mr. Manne represents the largest individual gift to The Bronx High School of Science Alumni Foundation ever, and the largest gift to a New York City public school in history. This university-level facility will allow high school students from across the Bronx to conduct long-term experiments, preparing them for college or professional settings.
The building houses three multidisciplinary labs, a walk-in cold room, tissue culture room, microscopy room, sterilization room, animal room, and a multi-purpose room for special events. Like a professional lab, spaces are modular and flexible, as equipment and science requirements change over time. Each lab is served by a computational room for group meetings, lectures, and experiment data review.
“The Manne Institute is a transformative project for Bronx Science and our biggest undertaking ever as a Foundation. We needed an architecture firm who could go beyond design. We needed a firm with true expertise, tremendous respect in the industry and the capabilities to help advise through all steps of the project. As we did our research, it became apparent that Daniel Heuberger and his team at Dattner checked all of those boxes and more. We simply could have never done this project without Dattner Architects and their talents.” — Eleanor Coufus, VP – Alumni Foundation, Bronx High School of Science
Offering summer study programs and faculty mentorship opportunities, the Manne Institute will also enable promising students from Bronx Science and other area public high schools additional advanced research opportunities in Microbiology, Animal Behavior, and Genetics.
“This is more than a unique research facility, but a wonderful Bronx story as well. A graduate of the school, Stanley Manne, has given another generation of ambitious and bright students an opportunity to embark on a lifetime of scientific inquiry.” — Daniel Heuberger, Principal, Dattner Architects
Although its footprint is modest in size, this research center is a highly visible place-making addition to the school campus. Along with the much larger main building, it completes the outdoor courtyard where students gather between classes. The lab is visible from all sides, and subtle offsets in the massing and screening of the roof top mechanical plant give each façade a unique visual proportion and contextual relationship. The building is conceived as a precise, finely detailed scientific object.
The façade is composed of tightly spaced, fiber-reinforced concrete panels, punctuated by modular openings that respond to the compact and rational laboratory plans. The three-dimensional panels cast changing and dynamic shadows on the façade over the course of the day. Bright green brick accents representing the school color mark the entrances and line the main stair and lobby.
“The Stanley Manne Research Institute provides a unique opportunity for talented NYC public high school students to be trained in a university-level laboratory. Who knows what important breakthroughs in biology or medicine will be made by these future scientists?” — Brian Nesin, Senior Associate, Dattner Architects
