12 February 1998

$20 Million Construction Project Planned for School of Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon's Board of Trustees has approved a $20-million, 107,000-square-foot construction project that will provide much-needed space for the School of Computer Science (SCS).

The project, which includes 65,000-square-feet of new space and 42,000-square-feet of renovated space, will enlarge, upgrade and connect the Field and Mobile Robotics Center (FRC) and Building D, between Wean and Smith halls.

The new facility will relieve some of SCS' space problems, improve socialization and collaboration within the college, create a new avenue for pedestrian traffic on campus and serve as a cornerstone in the long-term development of the university's West Campus.

The project will add two stories to the FRC and Building D and connect them with a two-story, skylit atrium, equipped with food service facilities and a common elevator. A new green roof and decorative yellow brick and masonry facing on the buildings' exteriors will tie them together as a single edifice.

The structure will be connected to Wean Hall by a 120-foot-long enclosed walkway that will be accessible from the fourth floor of Wean. Another 50-foot-long, open walkway will carry traffic from the north entry of the new building to the Hamburg Hall parking lot across from Smith Hall. The atrium, food service facility and walkway nearly 10,000-square-feet of space~will benefit the entire campus community.

The design phase of the project will be completed by the end of February. Construction is scheduled to begin June 1 and will be completed in two phases: the first by September 1, 1999, and the second by June 1, 2000.

"The School of Computer Science has doubled in annual research and in its educational and general operating budget in the last eight years, but our space has gone up only 35 percent," said SCS Dean Raj Reddy. "The renovation and 65,000-square-feet of new construction is necessary for the continued operation of the school and will significantly relieve the overcrowding."

There will be more space for the Robotics Institute and new homes for two SCS units. The Language Technologies Institute (LTI), now in Cyert Hall, and the Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), now on the first floor of Wean Hall, will move to the new floors on top of Building D.

Offices and laboratories will be constructed on the floors atop the FRC. A two-story machine shop for robotics will be constructed beneath the atrium. SCS is considering building a 100-seat lecture hall beside the atrium.

The Computer Science Department will remain in its present location in Wean Hall, but will gain 2,000-square-feet when the HCII moves to Building D.

"Today, SCS occupies space in eight buildings on the university campus," said Vice Provost for Research Duane Adams, who helped to facilitate the project. "The health of computer science is critical to the university and it's important to make sure they have adequate space."

"The School of Computer Science has built a world-class reputation and continues to attract top students and outstanding research opportunities," said President Cohon. "This new structure is an important investment in a school whose faculty and research staff are among the very best in the world."

James Secosky, senior project manager for Facilities Management Services, has been working closely with the project's architects, Pittsburgh-based Williams Trebilcock and Whitehead, and Jendoco Construction.

"This is an extremely difficult construction project," Secosky said. "We'll be building above, below, around and through occupied space."

"In the first phase of the project, we'll build the new floors on top of the FRC and Building D," he explained. "They should be occupied by the end of summer 1999. At this time, the structure between the buildings will also be erected."

The project's second phase involves gutting and renovating the three original floors in Building D and installing new sprinklers and fire and smoke alarms in the FRC.

"As this work is done, people will have to be moved and moved again," said Robotics Institute Associate Director Sandra Rocco, a member of the committee that defined the project. "I'm telling almost everyone in the institute to be prepared to move."

Much of the project is being financed with proceeds from the university's sale of stock in Lycos, a company formed by LTI researcher Michael Mauldin, who developed the Lycos catalog of sites on the Internet. Mauldin formed a company, Lycos, Inc., whose technology was commercialized by CMG@Ventures, a Wilmington, Mass., strategic investment and development firm, in 1995.

Adams said planning for the project began in May 1996. A team representing different facets of SCS and the administration met for more than a year to establish the needs of the college and to determine how they could best be met.

"I can't wait until we move into the new building in 1999," exclaimed Robotics Institute Director Takeo Kanade. "It will be the first time since the Robotics Institute was founded 20 years ago that we can house all of our activities in one or two buildings that are close to each other and to the rest of the SCS community.

"Not only will the robotics community strengthen its own identity, we will be able to strengthen our ties to the rest of the School of Computer Science," Kanade said.

"This project presents an opportunity to bring together all the outlying groups in SCS," Rocco said. "It's wonderful that we~re going to get to collaborate more closely with these people. For the first time SCS will have a place large enough to socialize."

Despite the money and effort being expended on this project, Adams describes it as "only an interim step." He envisions a brand new building for the School of Computer Science. "A new building could be done in 10 years, contingent on funding," he said. "Shortly after we finish this addition, we'll start planning for the new building."

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