Architecture
The staircase between the 35th and 36th floors. More photos »
During the 2002–03 academic year, the University Honors College offices on the 35th and 36th floors of the Cathedral of Learning underwent a major renovation project. The following is adapted from an article by Patricia Lomando White that appeared in the Pitt Chronicle upon completion of the renovations in August 2003.
Renovations to the offices of the honors college on the 35th and 36th floors of the Cathedral of Learning have created a two-story arched window that’s visible at night for miles around. Lead architect Ken Doyno explains, “As you drive up Forbes Avenue, you would see the lights as a beacon at the pinnacle of the incredible icon of the Cathedral.”
When the opportunity came to renovate the University of Pittsburgh's University Honors College, Dean Alec Stewart knew that he wanted to bring the spirit of the Commons and Nationality Rooms to the top of the Cathedral.
“Undergraduate students from throughout the University have lofty ambitions for intellectual attainment,” Stewart says. “They deserve a place that celebrates the life of the mind. We hope these renovated quarters that combine lofty purpose, lofty setting, and lofty architecture will further inspire students to corresponding levels of academic and personal achievement.”
Doyno, a partner at Rothschild Doyno Architects in Regent Square, says it was humbling to work in the Cathedral and to honor all the labor and leadership represented in the building.
Carpenters working for contractor Burchick Construction talked of their pride in working on the project. They said things like, "This isn’t work. This is a place I will bring my grandkids to say, ‘I built this.’”
“A term that we use in architecture with regard to environmentalism and materials is ‘embodied energy,’” Doyno explains. “But, in the case of a building such as the Cathedral, there’s all of this embodied craft and the embodied hopes of the community.”
Doyno worked closely with Stewart’s assistant, Karen Billingsley, on every detail. Their goal was to create a place where students would be inspired by a space that looked as though it had always been part of the Cathedral.
Doyno painstakingly studied the original drawings and history of the Cathedral. The Gothic stone medallions on the building particularly caught his attention, and the four-leaf medieval quatrefoil medallion at the top of the Cathedral became a central motif of Doyno’s design.
Skilled craftspeople and artists working in wrought iron and stained glass worked on the renovation. Iron craftsman Vic Reynaud of Technique Manufacturing says he worked in the spirit of Samuel Yellin, the wrought iron worker whose work decorates the Commons Room, by actually forging the wrought ironwork right there.
Reynaud used computer laser-driven cutting to make layers of steel with a rich patina to give it an older, industrial look. Doyno calls the craft and technology of the old and new ironwork in the Cathedral “the pinnacle of the craft of wrought ironwork.”
The stained glass behind the reception desk at the center of the space was designed by Glenn Greene Glass of Regent Square, centered on a design representing the four seasons, done in polished agate.
Many of the craftspeople viewed the work as an opportunity to make a lasting monument. Carpenters working for contractor Burchick Construction talked of their pride in working on the project. They said things like, "This isn’t work. This is a place I will bring my grandkids to say, ‘I built this,’” Doyno says. "Everyone from the University architect to the stone masons poured their hearts into the project, and that spirit will be there forever.”