Scaife Hall of Engineering

The LEED Gold Alan Magee Scaife Hall of Engineering is a 6-story research facility sited at a prominent corner of Carnegie Mellon’s campus. Bound by Schenley Park to the south, a deeply sloped hillside to the west, and the original campus buildings to the north and east, the new building forms a contemporary cornerstone and gateway to the historic campus core. The 7,897 m² building is home to the Mechanical Engineering Department and is comprised of labs, offices, classrooms, collaboration workspace, and a café. The three-volume massing is carefully considered, merging zoning restrictions, Pittsburgh’s steep slope development requirements, surrounding context, and programmatic requirements. The building’s design layout establishes a 360-degree relationship with its surroundings and is user focused, prioritizing its connection with daylight and views. When approached from the street level, the building’s full scale does not reveal itself. The dynamic arrangement allows the visitor to experience the building as they progress through the site. A two-story lower volume is strategically and efficiently integrated into the hillside to house laboratories. The deep below grade footprint allows for an efficient but flexible lab program layout and controlled conditions by taking advantage of ground coupling, reducing the heating and cooling demand. The labs are designed to support innovative research in a variety of subjects and include wet and dry lab space, a drone arena, robotics lab, open wet lab, and BSL-1 lab. Each requires complex systems, including elements such as pressurization controls, fume hoods, and source capture exhausts. To promote collaboration, research workstations are located adjacent to the lab spaces and take advantage of the existing sloped hillside to provide daylight and views out. Two additional volumes float above the labs, unify the spaces between adjacent buildings, and form a landscaped courtyard where all engineering programs can socialize and collaborate. A large operable door extends this communal space to the ground floor interior, where a much-needed café and lounge support student and faculty interaction. Teaching facilities, including flexible classrooms and lecture spaces, anchor the first two levels of the building, while offices occupy the upper levels. Woven around and within the building’s circulation are flexible spaces for collaboration and study, creating an active hub for research, teaching, and learning. Scaife Hall’s design marries advanced engineering research with site-specific public art, fostering an ongoing dialogue between the arts and sciences. “Making Way” by Jessica Stockholder integrates vibrant colors, translucency, and light throughout the building and landscape. A highly collaborative partnership between the artist and architect enabled these creative elements to be fully incorporated into Scaife Hall’s design and construction. The dynamic piece utilizes built elements such as light fixtures, terrazzo flooring and treads, decorative wall panels, window film, and stair guardrails, contributing to a memorable campus gateway.