Founded in 1886, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is the premier center for the academic study of Judaism in North America. Located on Manhattan’s Morningside Heights, the Seminary’s existing facilities, built in 1929, were no longer adequately meeting students’ needs.

JLGA was retained to assess the school’s current conditions and develop a master plan to address its immediate and long-term goals. The master plan identified the renovation of the entrance tower, which was destroyed by a fire in 1966, as Phase I, thereby recapturing space to meet the Seminary’s immediate need for additional classrooms, lecture halls, faculty/administrative offices and computer facilities.

Reconstructing the tower provided an opportunity to mend the fabric of the campus by joining the two adjacent wings to the tower in a way that had not been possible before. New floors were built within the shell of the old tower to accommodate new administrative offices, meeting rooms, computer center, and a language lab that extends into the attic of an adjacent building. Throughout, endeavored to connect each program element to the campus so that new classrooms, administrative offices and meeting rooms would be conveniently located near similar existing areas.

After more than three decades, the Seminary has regained the use of its tower as a state-of-the-art educational facility equipped with Internet access, distance learning, and video-conferencing. Renamed The Kripke Tower, the Seminary has opened a new front door to its campus.