51��Ʒ��Ƶ

Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, coming fall 2024

DeJong called the 270,000-square-foot complex “a massive game changer” where the campus community will access care for both their physical and mental well-being. Under construction on O’Hara Street, the center will serve as a destination linking the upper and lower campus.

The center, designed with a holistic framework, will feature a meditation and yoga space, a pool, weight-lifting equipment, a jogging track, volleyball and basketball courts and a dining space.

Feeling nebby? You can of the building’s construction.

Hillside beautification, coming fall 2024

The hillside surrounding and above the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is being transformed from throughfare to a landing place. DeJong said the vision is to adapt the green space into somewhere students can gather, study and take in views of campus. Hidden below the surface of the proposed outdoor patio area is a stormwater system to capture runoff and channel rain water to 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s chilled water plant, which will help 51��Ʒ��Ƶ meet its .

Victory Heights Arena and Sports Performance Center, spring 2025

51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics teams will one day compete in world-class facilities — the kind of place worthy of athletes who bring home and recognition. The Victory Heights 3,000-seat arena and sports performance center, soon to be constructed adjacent to the Petersen Events Center, will also serve the strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition and mental well-being needs of student athletes in 16 51��Ʒ��Ƶ athletics programs.

One project in the Victory Heights’ initiative is already finished — renovations and a third-floor addition to the Petersen Sports Complex wrapped up in 2021 — and a celebration to mark the next phase of the arena’s construction occurred in April.

Always reinventing

Another way 51��Ʒ��Ƶ improves campus and reduces its construction impact is by upgrading existing facilities. As detailed in the , 51��Ʒ��Ƶ is committed to reducing its environmental impact in every aspect of its operations, including construction and renovations. That commitment is reflected in 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s 17 building projects with LEED green building certifications.

“Sustainability is one of 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s core values; it's embedded in everything we do,” said DeJong.

Here are some of the recent projects completed with sustainability in mind.

Salk Hall, completed summer 2022

Home to the Schools of Pharmacy and Dental Medicine, Salk Hall underwent an extensive renovation, including installing state-of-the-art classrooms and research laboratories, a three-story atrium designated as a collaboration space and student lounge, and a revamped lecture hall.

The building’s upgrade earned 51��Ʒ��Ƶ its first LEED Platinum certification — the highest honor of its kind for sustainable building. Most notably, more than 90% of construction and demolition waste was diverted from landfills, and the project used renewable energy from the University’s power purchase agreement.

[Here’s how the renovation of Salk Hall forged a new path in campus sustainability.]

Alan Magee Scaife Hall, phase 1 completed May 2023

The West Wing addition of Alan Magee Scaife Hall was completed on April 21.��Primarily for School of Medicine students and welcoming all Health Sciences students, this 104,800 square-foot, seven-story building houses a 600-seat, state-of-the-art lecture auditorium, several team-based learning classrooms, small and large group rooms, individual study rooms, a simulation center, and a new anatomy lab.��Along with several student lounges and gathering areas, the building includes a Panera Bread on the fourth��floor slated to open later this month. The building’s addition and renovation — which include��a new cascading stormwater management feature planted with native species along Lothrop Street and was built to support future rooftop solar panels — are pursuing LEED green building certification.

What’s new on 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s regional campuses

While focus of the Campus Master Plan is on the University’s 51��Ʒ��Ƶsburgh campus, there’s a lot happening on the regional campuses as well, including major boosts to STEM resources on 51��Ʒ��Ƶ-Greensburg and 51��Ʒ��Ƶ-Bradford campuses.

“Those subjects are fundamental to workforce needs,” said DeJong, “and they bolster those regionals’ competitiveness in attracting and retaining students.”

51��Ʒ��Ƶ-Greensburg Life Sciences Building, completed winter 2023

The new Life Sciences Building boasts seven laboratory spaces available to science, nursing and general studies students, which provide resources for anatomy, physiology, biology, microbiology, organic chemistry and chemistry prep, conference and student collaboration rooms.

51��Ʒ��Ƶ-Bradford George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building, completed winter 2023

51��Ʒ��Ƶ-Bradford students have a new 39,000-square-foot facility for hands-on learning opportunities. The George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building is the campus hub for engineering, computing and energy studies. Students’ classroom curriculum is bolstered by the complex’s rooftop solar panel array, virtual reality lab, networking lab, makerspace, ample fabrication space and engineering shops.

��

— Nichole Faina