[1] It is located half a block from the university's main campus, near the intersection of Broadway and 115th Street in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City.

Upon its completion in 1988, at a cost of $18 million, Schapiro allowed the university to house all its undergraduates in dormitories for the first time, a vision originally pushed for by then-Dean of Columbia College Robert Pollack.

[2] This policy is now promised to all current and incoming undergraduate students at Columbia and Barnard.

The "Penthouse," the 17th floor, has a quiet study space for students and no residential rooms.

The building was designed by the architectural firm Gruzen Samton Steinglass.