Carnegie Mellon University

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April 26, 2012

City Approves CMU Master Plan

Pittsburgh City Council yesterday unanimously approved Carnegie Mellon’s 10-year Master Plan, a document that will guide the university’s growth through 2022. 

Bob Reppe, director of design for Campus Design and Facility Development, expressed thanks to the Carnegie Mellon community for their contributions to the plan.

"Input from all layers of the campus has resulted in a vision of the future of Carnegie Mellon," Reppe said.  "Students, staff, faculty and administration have all contributed to the 2012 Master Plan and the plan is all the stronger as a result. Finally, the 2012 Institutional Master Plan is a result of the leadership of President Cohon and Provost Kamlet and sets an exciting course for the future of Carnegie Mellon University."

The City of Pittsburgh Zoning Code requires all universities and hospitals to submit a new master plan for approval every 10 years. The plans become a legal zoning document for any new building projects and enables projects in the plan to proceed along a streamlined review process.

Proposed Projects

The new master plan, developed over the last two years, aims to direct and enable growth of the Pittsburgh campus while keeping in mind the needs and concerns of its neighbors. While multiple building sites are identified in the plan, the actual construction program for the projects will be developed as demand and funding evolve. The proposed projects include:
      
* A biomedical-energy-nanotechnology center that will be located between Wean, Hamerschlag and Roberts halls. The center will focus on nanoscale research and will also house the entire Biomedical Engineering group under one roof for the first time. The proposal to create a nano-energy facility underscores the university’s commitment to establishing new research partnerships and greenlighting startup companies, while furthering existing partnerships and continuing to establish connections between the core campus and university sites in Oakland.
      
* A new Tepper School of Business facility at the Forbes and Morewood parking lot site, which could bring together undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty all in one building. The new home for the Tepper School could be the first of several new projects on that site, which is thought to be a prime area for future development. Plans to re-use the existing Tepper School facility and to account for the loss of parking spaces are being studied.
      
* Additions to the University Center (Forbes Avenue side) and a major reconfiguration of Skibo Gym (Margaret Morrison Street side) that will expand and enhance space for athletics, fitness and recreation.
      
* An extension to Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall that will extend toward Donner Hall to support all of the College of Fine Arts programs.

* Transforming the end of the campus lawn, known as the "Cut" (at Morewood and Forbes), into the formal entrance of the university. This reconfigured area, much like a traditional "town square," would serve as the heart of campus and could create "the sense of arrival at Carnegie Mellon." Buildings that frame this space could house central academic activities and administrative and student life functions, such as those associated with Student Affairs, University Advancement and Alumni Relations.

The current Carnegie Mellon plan, approved in 2002, resulted in the creation of the Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC), a unique business incubator space that has housed Google, Disney, Intel and Apple; Stever House, the nation’s first green dormitory; the Gates Center for Computer Science; the Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies; and the development of the Posner Center, including the green roof and park designed by the team of artist and CMU alumnus Mel Bochner and renowned landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburg of New York.     

You can download the new 83-page master plan from the Campus Design and Facility Development website at http://www.cmu.edu/cdfd