TYPOLOGY
P R OJ E CT NAME Tepper Quad
Buzz Yudell, urban planner and cofounder of Moore Ruble Yudell, brought Carnegie Mellon University’s vision of interconnectedness to life with the new Tepper Quad Project. “It begins with the campus and the School of Business committing to a project that goes well beyond the school of business to foster integration, collaboration, and experimental teaching on many levels,” Yudell says. “The experience of the building was developed to build upon the idea of breaking down barriers and enhancing collaboration, even between the university and its neighborhood and the community at large.” Traditionally business schools dwell in their own sort of bubble on college campuses, but the Tepper Quad sought to enhance collaboration and blend the school of business with all disciplines. With a mix of spaces like an office for students with startup businesses, breakout spaces for meetings or group study, and private kiosks akin to telephone booths, the new business school has more of an experimental, first job feel than you might see in traditional university halls. You’ll find areas for independent work, but the design was intended to work as “a very flexible, fluid network of spaces rather than a strict hierarchy of defined spaces,”
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Yudell says. Almost all rooms are adaptable. The 600-seat Simmons Auditorium, for example, has retractable theater-quality seating and acoustic partitions that allow the space to be reconfigured into several smaller spaces. One unique sustainable aspect of the building is the voided slab technique created with 9-, 10- and 12-inch spheres from Bubble Deck. The spheres are manufactured from recycled kayaks and reduce floor thickness, allowing for smaller foundations and columns. “After testing several systems, it became clear that to do a fully concrete slab and structural system would allow us to expose most of the ceilings, most of the floors, and almost all of the structure,” Yudell says. The voided slab was the largest to date when Tepper Quad opened. It reduced construction cost by 10% and cut the building’s total height by several feet without reducing the volume occupied. Yudell and his team sought to make the experience of the Tepper Quad uplifting. The project includes areas that connect to outdoor spaces so students can work and experience the seasons at the same time. The building also has a fitness center, bike storage, and a café with healthy food options. “Sustainability
LOCATION Pittsburgh, PA COMPLETION August 2018 SIZE 315,000 square feet COST $201 Million ARCHITECT Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT Renaissance 3 Architects ENGINEER BuroHappold CONSTRUCTION MANAGER P.J. Dick LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Sasaki PHOTOS, DRAWING, AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY OF MOORE RUBLE YUDELL
Locally sourced bricks from Beldon Bricks have a modern, sleek design that complements the campus’s long-standing traditional look.
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