By Howard Koplowitz
Queens College’s Remsen Hall is set to receive a building award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce during a ceremony next week.
Remsen Hall is one of the college’s science buildings and its $30 million expansion was completed last year.
“Remsen’s spectacular addition and renovation provide a cutting-edge teaching and learning environment for our students and faculty in the sciences,” Queens College President James Muyskens said in a statement. “This recognition from the Chamber of Commerce is the icing on the cake.”
The building is receiving an award under the Rehabilitation — Schools and Colleges category of the Queens Chamber of Commerce Building Awards.
More than 125 entries were submitted for the contest, with Remsen Hall and 25 other award winners in categories of new construction and rehab set to receive honors Jan. 20 at the Chamber’s 98th-annual building awards reception at Queens Theatre in the Park.
Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and Jacobs Engineering, which worked on the expansion of Remsen Hall, will also be recognized at the ceremony.
Remsen Hall’s renovation and expansion was completed in March.
The project involved construction of an addition to Remsen Hall and a partial renovation of the first, second and third floors of the 60-year-old building, the college said.
The 26,000-square-foot addition to Remsen Hall, which took two years to complete, features 11 high-tech teaching and advanced research labs and a science-inspired glass-tile mosaic art installation that spans all three floors of the expansion, according to Queens College.
The mosaic, called “Electromagnetic Fall” and created by artist Carter Hodgkin, consists of 55,162 pieces and is based on atomic particles moving through space and is organized vertically on the walls.
The mural is visible to the campus quad through the glass atrium that is part of the new addition.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
