The new northeast wing of the Gannett Health Center has been framed, sheathed, and windows have been fitted. From the outside, work is also complete on the new concrete skin for the late 1970s northwest wing, which unlike the original building, it was finished out with concrete instead of stone. Meanwhile, the remaining portion of the original 1950s structure is still undergoing interior work and the new canopy has yet to be erected, so it’ll be a couple of months before the new curtain walls are fully installed. A new roof membrane is also on the to-do list.
Looking closely at the sheathing on the new building, you can see the clips that will be used to attach the new limestone veneer (Cornell has the time and the money for the real deal; most developers opt for less expensive but similar-looking precast concrete). Based off the roofline, it looks like fireproof fiberglass mat gypsum sheathing (in this case, GP DensGlass), followed by a silver moisture protection barrier, and then metal panels or limestone depending on the location.
October 2017 is the given completion date on the Cornell Facilities webpage, but the new building should be open by August; the new landscaping is what will extend into the fall. The Pike Company of Syracuse is the general contractor (they’re also doing Upson Hall nearby), and Downtown Ithaca’s Chiang O’Brien are the designers-of-record.
I did not get as close to the site as I would have liked, because the snow was still quite deep in some spots, and some of my usual vantage points were blocked off.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
Not to be rude, but I was by the site yesterday and the new entrance canopy steel has been erected. It’s also important to note that there will be significant grade changes when the project is complete. The first floor of the new wing on the east elevation actually ends up below grade as the main entrance will be on the 2nd level. (I do not know what number floor this ends up being given the awkward numbering scheme in the building)
Don’t worry, not rude. These photos are about ten days old. I just space out the posts from photo romps, so the last ones tend to be a bit outdated by the time they’re published.
I’ll add a note about the grade changes in a revision tomorrow morning.
I still don’t know why anyone in their right mind would want to make part of the new wing “match” the soulless prison-block aesthetic of the 1970s wing, but hey, at least they’re using limestone panels instead of raw concrete. Maybe it won’t age so badly in the cold wet weather here.