Projects

Founded in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College is an institution dedicated to fostering a unique, interdisciplinary, and community-based approach to higher education. Following the opening of the Barbara Walters Campus Center in 2019 and several years of impacts related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sarah Lawrence sought to mark its Centennial anniversary and position itself for a second century of prestigious liberal arts education through a series of strategic investments in its historic 44-acre campus.

Zubatkin partnered with the College to develop a capital program framework to activate a series of renovation projects that will optimize underutilized spaces, address accessibility and sustainability, and upgrade infrastructure to best support the academic program. The framework sought to develop a clear roadmap and a series of “building blocks” that set the stage for selected priority capital construction projects, while also establishing an overall approach for future investments in the campus.

Founded in 1888, the Browning School is an all-boys K-12 independent school with a long history of academic excellence. To support a growth in its enrollment, enhance its upper school campus, and create a home for its athletic programs, Browning acquired a facility a few blocks from its original 1922 Red Door building and developed plans to repurpose the space into educational use.

The program calls for 18 high school classrooms and labs, a regulation-sized gymnasium, library, and cafeteria, as well as arts and community spaces. When completed, the new facility will house Browning’s Upper School, and the spaces at the original 62nd Street building will be repurposed for younger students. The project involves the navigation of a series of complex public approvals, including securing permits from the New York City Board of Standards & Appeals (BSA).

The Churchill School and Center is an innovative and transformational K-12 learning community that empowers students with language-based learning disabilities. Since its founding in 1972, Churchill has embraced an individualized and holistic approach to education that nurtures students’ intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development.

Churchill recently embarked on a planning process that seeks to ‘reverse engineer’ the environment by starting with the student rather than compromising best practices due to facility limitations. This long-term planning effort is founded on the development of a Program Plan that articulates and aligns internal consensus regarding priorities for academics, art, performance, athletics and technology, as well as psychographic and demographic surveys that affirm key elements of enrollment. The corresponding Feasibility Study included a facilities condition assessment and consideration of real estate assets.

Superblue is a new, innovative arts venture that aims to bring groundbreaking experiential arts installations to broader audiences. Superblue’s Experiential Art Centers (EACs) will exhibit foundational artists like James Turrell, best known for his work with light and space; teamLab, a Japanese Art Collective that works in complex technological media; and Es Devlin, an artist known for large-scale performative sculptures and environments.

Zubatkin collaborated with Superblue on its first location in Miami, where a former food distribution warehouse was leased from the neighboring Rubell Museum and transformed into a flexible exhibition space design to accept large scale, immersive art installations. The project required the navigation of local approvals with the City of Miami, including the Fire Department and Department of Public Works, and involved a close collaboration with the Mayor’s Office to meet critical opening deadlines.