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Marymount Manhattan College desperately needed more space but there was no room to expand into their busy Upper East Side neighborhood. Still, they found a way.

"This is a great New York story about finding space and using it wisely when you can't build any more than you have," says architect Lori Kupfer.

By reconfiguring several rooms and building out onto the roof of the school's theater, the school created almost 20,000 square feet of new space without expanding its footprint an inch. But the new space isn't for classrooms or labs or offices, but rather for students and faculty to finally have a place to just hang out. They say such space is crucial at a liberal arts college.

"Liberal arts colleges just have spaces like that, for the spontaneous enrichment that comes from bumping into people and just having a conversation," says Marymount President Judson R. Shaver.

Yet space is not a luxury that most New York institutions can count on, and outdoor space is even more rare.

The Marymount renovation, however, includes the addition of what they are calling an "urban quad," a miniature version of the classic heart of a university campus, built on the roof of a theater and connecting Marymount's two classroom buildings. Students say the quad, coupled with a new lounge and dining room, have changed the entire campus experience.

"I meet a whole bunch of new people - English majors, theater majors, whatever. And obviously there is always people singing and working on all sorts of stuff and that's fun too," says student Caitlyn Salisbury.

The team that worked on this project says a big budget or a gut renovation is not necessary to make better use of space.

"Think about what kind of spaces are critical for students today that maybe weren't critical 20 years ago. And it's all about constantly rethinking how you are using the space you have, so you can consolidate what isn't so important and expand what is important," says Kupfer.

At Marymount, the creative reusing of space means students no longer have to eat their lunch on hallway floors, and faculty have a better chance of spending time with students outside of the classroom.