Carnegie Mellon University, Baker Hall

This three-story addition for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences adjoins one of the original academic buildings designed in 1900 by architect Henry Hornbostel. The new 30,000-square-foot facility houses the departments of English, history, modern languages, philosophy, statistics, psychology and social decision studies.
To meet the challenge of building in a limited space, the architect expanded the basement beyond the footprint above. To preserve as much historic fabric as possible, the addition is eight feet away from the existing structure, its atrium connected to the original building through a skyway on each floor.
Sustainability was an important factor driving the design. Only 12,000 of the addition’s 30,000 square feet are above-ground. The remaining 18,000 feet, located underground, are dedicated to spaces requiring minimal daylight, such as laboratories and lecture halls. Student lounges and faculty and staff offices on the lower level receive natural light via skylights in the outside study piazza and southern-oriented windows just above grade.

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