The Louis Lasky Memorial Medical and Dental Center is the flagship facility for the National Organization of Industrial Trade Unions Insurance Trust Fund. The organization, which provides specialized medical and dental care to thousands of dues-paying members throughout New York City and Long Island, wanted the Louis Lasky Memorial Medical and Dental Center to be a modern and professional environment, yet comfortable and inviting. The design allowed for the incorporation of quality durable finishes, creative lighting, organized traffic-flow planning, and a clean, modern design motif that would tie together separate medical and dental departments, using a doctor’s private-practice model.

A raceway corridor scheme, in which the rooms and circulation are located around a core of support services, helped to organize and separate the traffic flow of patients, staff, and materials. The building extends 200 feet through a city block and has elevators and stairs in the center. This barbell-shaped floor plan allowed for a central waiting room and separate medical and dental offices.

Space rented on an adjacent floor provided a board conference center and separate staff facilities where employees could take their breaks, eat lunch, and change clothes outside the medical treatment area.

The overall design scheme consisted of repeating arcs and circles that reinforce the facility’s various support stations, helping direct circulation throughout the medical and dental wings. This theme was conveyed through floor patterns and repeated three-dimensionally in the ceiling design and construction. A simple and sophisticated color palette of maintainable materials was selected to complement the modern design of the space.

Project category: Remodel/Renovation (completed January 2000)

Chief administrator: Daniel Lasky, Administrator, (212) 869-6622

Firm: Jeffrey Berman Architect, (212) 967-3400

Design team: Jeffrey Berman, AIA, ACHA, Principal; James Taylor, Designer; Effie Patelos, Interior Designer (Jeffrey Berman Architect); Victor LaSala, PE, Managing Partner (James, LaSala & Associates, LLP); Stuart Parker, Project Executive (Morgan Construction Enterprises, Inc.)

Photography: ©2003 Jeffrey Berman Architect

Total building area (GSF): 15,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $207

Total cost (excluding land): $3,100,000