A trade publication for steel design, fabrication, and construction details the Foucault Pendulum and floating staircase in the Dolan Family Science, Technology, and Research Center.
In its March issue, Modern Steel Construction explains the two prominent features of the building's atrium from concept to creation. Chaminade's Foucault Pendulum is one of seven in New York State and is the only one of its kind at a state high school. A highly precise instrument, the pendulum demonstrates the Earth's rotation by dropping surrounding pins. It is suspended from the 30-foot high roof above the atrium. The staircase is made of 45 tons of steel in a design that makes the staircase appear to float along the building walls.
The Dolan Family Science, Technology, and Research Center opened to students with the start of the 2018-2019 school year. It includes teaching labs for biology, chemistry, physics, the natural sciences, the Science Olympiad, and fabrication and robotics. State-of-the-art probes synch data from experiments to student iPads for real-time analysis.