The Posner Center is an earth-sheltered building designed by Paul Whitehead of WTW Architects. It was constructed in 2004 as a LEED-certified facility that provides museum-quality storage and exhibit space for the Posner Memorial Collection. The building was also, until 2024, the venue for CMU Board of Trustees meetings and events. 

The original meeting room included innovative Telepresence equipment to allow real-time communication with the CMU Qatar campus. 

The building’s rooftop features the Kraus Campo, a meditative outdoor space created by 1962 College of Fine Arts graduate Melvin Bochner and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh. The garden was Carnegie Mellon’s first project to integrate campus life with the contemporary artwork of its alumni.

The Posner Center’s original design was 35% more efficient than the minimum requirement for LEED certification at the time it was built. The design team incorporated multiple sustainable strategies, including a process that filters rain before it goes into the storm water system and a layout that allows 90% of its occupied space to be lit by natural sunlight.

To safely display items from the collections, custom glass display cases were installed that included fiber optic lighting and passive air filtration and humidity control. 

Team Members

Campus Design and Facility Development worked with the following organizations to complete the project: 

Mascaro Construction Company, LP, Pittsburgh, PA
Easley & Rivers, Inc., Monroeville, PA
WTW Architects, Pittsburgh, PA