In 2019, Duquesne charged SLAM with developing a space program and building design to welcome their inaugural class of medical students in 2024. At the programming level, the building was designed to provide advanced education settings and to ensure that the program would be future proof for many years to come. Equally important was the integration of the new College of Medicine community within the campus. In addition to the new building, this project involved creating a new medical library, renovating classrooms, and upgrading the gross anatomy lab in existing buildings on campus. This allowed Duquesne to integrate the medical students into the greater campus community from day one.
One of the greatest challenges we faced was meeting the project schedule and obtaining a certificate of occupancy, which was crucial for Duquesne to achieve accreditation through the Comission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) . This required a true team effort between the university, SLAM, the construction manager, engineers, and city officials. We were all deeply involved to ensure that the approval process went smoothly and on time. The city of Pittsburgh was fully engaged in this process, which is a testament to Duquesne's strong ties to the greater community and the significance of this project in the promotion of urban growth.
The Design of the building and selection of materials was crafted to address both institutional and public goals of Duquesne University and the City of Pittsburgh:
The building reflects the character of the use of Brick and Steel in a manner that elevates the human spirit by welcoming the public with the use of a sweeping glass lobby and glass top floor that provides views to the campus. Dark metal curtainwall ties back to the history of Pittsburgh's steel industry and industrial heritage.
The use of metal panels visually sculpt the building mass to create a slenderer and more vertical appearance.
The overall planning of building core elements and public circulation be placed to garner the greatest amount of natural light deep into the building.
Interior design includes a warm, neutral palette to coordinate with a light maple wood finish. Bright accent colors help orient the occupant and brighten the education spaces. Furniture fabrics tie together the accent colors with a more formal palette in the office suites and a more playful palette in student life spaces.
Team:
Architects, Architect of Record, Interior Design, Structural Engineering, Landscape Architecture: The S/L/A/M Collaborative
Partner Architect: WTW Architects (now AEWorks)
FP/MEP Engineering: HFLenz
Civil Engineering: Langan Engineering
AV/Acoustics Consultants: Convergent Technologies, Inc.
Photographer: The S/L/A/M Collaborative
Materials Used:
Façade cladding: EFCO with Gurtner & Sons Glazing Contractor (curtainwall and storefront), KalKreuth Sheet Metals, Marsa Masonry Contractors , Cold Spring Granite, Brick: Redland Red Matt Flashed Modular Custom Blend (now Glen Gery) Redland Harmer,#200 Flashed Matt SW.
Wall Panels Centria Metal Panels, Nichiha Metal Panels,
Flooring: Interface Carpeting and LVT, Creative Materials Corporation Tile, Nydree Wood Flooring, Mats Inc. Sheet Florring.
Doors: Kawneer
Windows: EFCO
Interior Lighting: Neo Ray, Metalux, Halo, Amico
Interior furniture: Keilhauer, Kimball, Haworth, Agati, OFS, ERG
Acoustic Wall Panels: Conwed
Ceilings: Armstrong
Window Shades: Hunter Douglas
Signage and Donor Wall: Forms & Surfaces
Simulation Equipment: Pocketnurse, Inc.
Simulation Platform: Laerdal
Virtual Anatomy Platform: Microsoft HoloLens/HoloAnatomy
