Vagelos Education Center (VEC)
The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center is a 100,000 sq. ft., 14-story state-of-the-art medical and graduate education building at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus that integrates classrooms with the latest technology, collaboration spaces, and a medical modern simulation center to reflect how medicine is taught, learned, and practiced in the 21stCentury. The building features classrooms on the northern end and the southern half of the building is dominated by a “study cascade”, a network of social and study spaces that are perfect for students. The classrooms are grouped into “academic neighborhoods” that can be configured according to student and faculty needs by altering the partitions, drop-down screens, large-scale multi-user touch screens, and suspended ceilings. There is a multipurpose auditorium that provides 270-seat flexible space for lectures, screenings and concerts. The ground floor features a café and a common study area with computers. The building also features two outdoor green spaces, ideal for quick chats. Together, the education center provides the ideal setting to enrich the work and play aspects of students’ lives.