Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburgh, PA
George A. Roberts Engineering Hall

Historic Hamerschlag Hall – the very symbol of Carnegie Mellon University – melds with Payette’s design for Roberts Hall, which visually becomes a base for the older building. The design extends the patterns and rhythms found in campus architect Henry Hornbostel’s work from the early 20th century. The organization of spaces along the hillside locates places for people by windows and sensitive laboratories into the hill. Stairwells become vessels of natural light for the lower levels of laboratories. An important connection is made by the mid-floor laboratories extending under a roadway. Above the roadway, the main lobby links the two buildings and celebrates the vista of the historic tower. The base of tinted concrete blends with the campus brick. The metal roof is set just below the main windows of Hamerschlag and houses a conference room in its rounded form.