Innovation’s Nucleus

At the University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering students are trained to be more than just technically proficient— they learn to see opportunities for innovating new technologies, and how to advance them into the marketplace.

A radical transformation of Benedum Hall and the addition of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) set the stage for the kind of cross-collaboration that leads to safer power plants, cleaner drinking water, better brain health, and adaptive products that give people with disabilities greater mobility.

Benedum Hall’s former basement now meets the street as a ground level plaza, which bridges MCSI and the open-plan labs of Benedum Hall’s tower. A central stair is a shared transition point for engineers of all disciplines as they move between their focused work in the tower’s upper floors and the plaza’s social atmosphere.

The plaza also keeps Swanson’s future engineers connected to the surrounding community, and to the very people who may one day benefit from their work.

In collaboration with NBBJ.