Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon's Campus Design and Facility Development department oversees the long-term strategy for, and modifications to, CMU’s physical environment. Our work involves four areas: planning new campus space, acquiring and managing real estate, designing structures and environments to meet CMU’s needs, and then creating or renovating those physical spaces. Once facilities are built, they are managed by CMU’s Facilities Management Services department.

All good projects start with a solid blueprint. At CMU, our campus growth is guided by our Institutional Master Plan, which outlines our long-term vision for the evolution of our facilities and physical spaces. We update our plan every 10 years, and each update involves several years of dialogue and input from our internal and external stakeholders to ensure we are best meeting the needs of our community. Our planning also incorporates industry best practices and sustainability considerations, as well as the Simonds Principles, which CMU adopted in 2013 to help guide new campus construction and major renovations. Qualifying projects and documents are then reviewed by CMU's Design Review Committee and other relavent stakeholders. Our approved strategy helps determine which campus spaces will be built or renovated next to suit the university’s needs.

Our Institutional Master Plan outlines which areas of campus we’d like to expand or update. We then manage CMU’s real estate portfolio accordingly by buying, selling or leasing needed property. Learn more about requesting CMU space.

When it is time to create or renovate a campus space, we work with clients, architects and design firms to visualize the end result and the best way to achieve it. We also rely on CMU's design and construction standards, which were created to help our partners understand the university's preferences in the development and renovation of its facilities. (Contact us if you’d like more information on these standards.) Our detailed design plans are critical to helping us acquire needed approvals and permits, such as input from CMU's Design Review Committee, and find the right construction partner to execute our vision. Learn more about initiating a capital project with us.

When all the plans are complete and permits acquired, we roll up our sleeves and get to work! Our construction teams work step-by-step to carefully create CMU’s next campus space. View information about our current projects, including live construction cams and time-lapse construction videos. Or learn about key buildings and spaces on CMU's Pittsburgh campus.

Work With Us

Initiate a Capital Project

The chart below outlines the steps for a new campus project, from application to completion. To initiate a new project with our team, please obtain appropriate leadership approval for your area and complete a Capital Project Application.

flowchart outlining steps to initiate a capital project at CMU

Space Requests and Real Estate Leases

All requests for space, including leases (new leases, amendments and renewals to existing leases), must be formally approved prior to beginning the process of negotiating a lease or acquiring additional physical space. To get started, obtain appropriate leadership approval for your area and complete a CMU Space Request. Please give significant advance notice to allow for request approval, review by all necessary departments and negotiation with the landlord.