Rochester Institute of Technology, Institute Hall

The architect designed Institute Hall for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as a “crossing path” of university activities, academic and research programs, and student movements across campus. Institute Hall will provide space for RIT’s new chemical and biomedical engineering departments, and forward the university’s reputation for providing outstanding engineering education.

In addition, the four-story research facility will house the chemistry department, wet research labs and facilities related to the RIT-Rochester General Health System Alliance. It also will include classrooms and a small vivarium. Strategically planned shared spaces will enhance the synergistic quality of the building’s departments, combined with specialized lab space to support individual research needs. 

As a nod to its context, the building’s design inverts the original Modernist style of the campus: most of the buildings are solid brick masses with dark glass, but Institute Hall has a transparent, glazed core wrapped in a red brick shell. The team collaborated with RIT engineering students to translate the school’s innovative materials research into actual design components, to help pursue a targeted LEED gold certification.

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