Carnegie mellon university gates center for computer science

PJ Dick provided Construction Management at Risk services for Carnegie Mellon University’s Gates Center for Computer Science and Hillman Center for Future – Generation Technologies. The 217,000-sf facility includes 318 offices as well as labs, computer clusters, lecture halls, classrooms, and a 250-seat auditorium. The design team, University, and PJ Dick collaborated closely to achieve balance between the design and budget goals.

The two-building complex includes a 60,000-sf, four-story steel structure connected to a 157,000-sf, six-story steel structure on top of a two-level 150- car parking garage. A major challenge of the project was the 80-foot elevation difference between the upper and lower portions of the site (the West campus and the “Cut,” a term the campus coined for the grassy area). A unique concrete helix ramp connects the buildings and campus from the upper-level entrance down to the base of the lobby connecting the “Cut” to the West Campus.