A broad flight of steps descends from Low Library to an expansive plaza, a popular place for students to gather, and from there to College Walk, a promenade that bisects the central campus. Beyond College Walk is the South Campus, where Butler Library, the University's main library, stands. South Campus is also the site of many of Columbia College's facilities, including student residences, the Ferris Booth Hall activities center, and the College's administrative offices and classroom buildings, along with the building housing the Journalism School. To the north of Low Library stands Pupin Hall, which in 1966 was designated a national historic landmark in recognition of the atomic research undertaken there by Columbia's scientists beginning in 1925. To the east is St. Paul's Chapel, which is listed with the New York City Register of Historic Places.
Many newer buildings surround the original campus.
Among the most impressive are the Sherman Fairchild Center for the Life Sciences, the Computer Science building, Morris A. Schapiro Hall, and the Morris A. Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research. In 1989, The Presbyterian Hospital opened the Milstein Hospital Building, a 745-bed facility that incorporates the very latest advances in medical technology and patient care. The Park is being developed as a major urban research complex to house activities on the cutting edge of scientific and medical research.