Riverdale Jewish Center

As both a synagogue and charter school, the Atmosphere Academy/Riverdale Jewish center is a story about sharing.  The building, built in the 1950’s and significantly enlarged in the 1990’s, includes numerous public spaces and a classroom wing.  The weekdays are dominated by the school, whose eighth grade uses most of the building: gym, classrooms, multipurpose auditorium, and offices. On weekends the congregation takes over, filling the sanctuary and multipurpose auditorium along with other flex spaces for prayer, study, and communal gatherings.

  • The specific interventions included:

    • Redesigning the gym to allow for an audience

    • Relocating the synagogue entry, lobby, office and coat rooms to locate the school office closer to the main school entrance

    • Modifying the classroom wing to suit the school’s needs

    • Changing a coat room into classrooms

    • Renovating the commercial kitchen to eliminate gas and better serve both users

    • Aesthetic, audiovisual renovations to allow the ballroom to function as a teaching space for the school and to freshen it for the synagogue; addition of a fabric roll-down partition to split the ballroom to allow dual uses for both users

    The aesthetic focus for the congregation was the lobby. The reworking of the plan allowed for a more natural flow of people from the sanctuary to the ballroom, via an ADA ramp and decorative stair, whose S-shape echoes the midcentury modern shapes on the original building.  The lobby was completely rebuilt, with new LED cove lighting, and new cherry doors and millwork to tie the lobby to the iconic sanctuary ark, a hand-carved cherry masterpiece.  The choice of white stone for floors and walls was intended to provide a low-maintenance finish that would brighten the deeply-set interior rooms. 

Client: Riverdale Jewish Center
Location: Independence Ave, Bronx, NY
Category: Religious Buildings
Completion: 2023
Team: Michael Goldblum, Leyani Klever
Photography: Ashok Sinha

This street level interior boasts large windows that light up the marbled floor and wooden doors in the synagogue/charter school.
Three golden faucets stream water in a singular marble basin that has wood and gold accents underneath the countertop.
This interior room of the Riverdale Jewish Center features high ceilings, white marble flooring and a staircase bordered with gold that leads to two wooden double doors.
This interior lobby of the Riverdale Jewish Center has white marble floors that extend up the wall, a ramp next to a staircase for accessibility, and two sets of double doors.
The hallway in this synagogue and charter schools features a white marble staircase, windows that allow a view of the Bronx, New York, and a wooden accent wall.
A close-up of the rounded marbled white stairs featuring a golden trim with matching gold railings inside the Riverdale Jewish Center.
The slanted wood walls support a gold basin and faucet attached to a marble interior wall in the Riverdale Jewish Center.
This interior auditorium in the Riverdale Jewish center boasts high ceilings, extensive seating, and a balcony framed by a colorful stained glass window.

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