Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Previews Two New Carnegie Mellon University Projects
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Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Previews Two New Carnegie Mellon University Projects
Both buildings designed to be cutting-edge maker and collaboration spaces
© Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Pittsburgh, PA (July 10, 2018) – Renowned architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) has announced their designs for two new buildings at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Both projects, ANSYS Hall and TCS Hall, are designed for collaborative research and maker-based learning. The buildings will be utilized by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students across multiple disciplines, and underscore university-corporate partnerships.
ANSYS Hall is designed to be a 36,000-square-foot, four-story facility for CMU’s College of Engineering. Funded by a gift from engineering simulation software company ANSYS, the project creates a hub for student making and features an indoor-outdoor maker-court for conceptualization and manufacturing of large-scale, functional prototypes. The building will also house the ANSYS Simulation Lab and research space, allowing ANSYS to serve as a direct resource to students and contribute to the cross-pollination of ideas. The project is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2020.
Funded in part by a gift from Tata Consultancy Services, a global IT and business solutions company, TCS Hall will serve as a gateway for those entering the CMU campus from Forbes Avenue. The 90,000-square-foot building will create a new ‘Student Collaboration Porch’ and house laboratories for computer science and mechanical engineering, a drone high-bay, flexible makerspace, an outdoor robot yard, and offices for CMU faculty and the TCS Collaboration Center. Scheduled for completion in spring of 2020, TCS Hall will serve as a keystone for development in the north of Forbes district.
Both projects are led by Design Principal Gregory Mottola, FAIA, and Principal in Charge Kent Suhrbier, AIA. Mottola and Suhrbier are alumni of CMU’s School of Architecture and have contributed to many BCJ projects, both nationally and in Pittsburgh.
“Collaboration and making are essential to what we do as architects, so we’re always interested in designing buildings that allow for this type of creative exploration and prototyping,” said Mottola. “We look forward to seeing the students at work in these spaces, and the results of their design thinking.”
The two buildings add to the firm’s growing list of works for CMU, which includes Stever House, the nation’s first LEED-certified residence hall; the award-winning Software Engineering Institute; and the celebrated Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace, known as a ‘living laboratory’ for the study of workplace technology, which opened in 1994 and remains an international center for the advancement of sustainable building technologies today.
Other notable BCJ projects throughout the Pittsburgh region include the Heinz History Center, Braskem (formerly Aristech) Headquarters, both High Meadow and the Barn at Fallingwater, and the recently Living Building-certified Frick Environmental Center.
“We’re excited to build upon our firm’s legacy with CMU and the region,” said Suhrbier. “Especially during this exciting time in Pittsburgh, as the city reinvents itself as a leader in technology and maker-based industry.”
About Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, founded in 1965, is noted for elegant and humane design, ranging from modest houses to large academic, civic, cultural, and corporate buildings. Known for its significant contributions to the American architectural landscape, the firm has been a pioneer of modern retail and workplace design, including award-winning work for Adobe, Apple, Pixar, Square, and Twitter. The firm has designed academic buildings for Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, among others; the Ae’o residential tower for Howard Hughes Corporation; cultural gathering spaces such as the Grand Teton Discovery & Visitor Center and Manetti Shrem Museum; and city halls in Seattle and Newport Beach, Calif.