Calvin & Tina Tyler Hall, Morgan State University
CALVIN & TINA TYLER HALL, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Teeple Architects + Gwwo Architects
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Barton Malow
ACOUSTIC
Acoustical Design Collaborative
MANUFACTURERS
Eomac, Owen Sound Ledgerock, Vanceva, Ykk Ap, Roman Mosaic & Tile Company, Zephyr Aluminum
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS
Wft Engineering
MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
Mueller Associates
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
Restl Designers Inc.
CIVIL ENGINEERS
Carroll Engineering
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Floura Teeter
TRANSPORTATION
Symmetra Design
LIGHTING
Mcla
COST
Forella Group
LEED CONSULTANT
Sustainable Design Consulting
PLUMBING & FIRE PROTECTION
Wft Engineering
Year
2020
AREA
141675 ft²
CATEGORY
Higher Education
LOCATION
Batimore, United States
Text description provided by architect.
Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore is one of the nation’s premier historically black institutions of higher education—and the largest within the State of Maryland—offering a comprehensive range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.
Founded in 1867, the university was designated a ‘National Treasure’ in 2016 by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Its campus extends from a historic academic quad in a neoclassical style to a campus commons surrounded by modern buildings.
Teeple Architects, working in collaboration with GWWO Architects, was tasked with designing a student services centre that would bridge the historic academic quad and the modern campus commons, while also establishing an iconic and uplifting ‘front-door’ to the university.
The Calvin and Tina Tyler Hall Student Services Centre improves the overall student experience by establishing a welcoming entry point for current and prospective students and gathering the university’s formerly dispersed administrative and student services under a single roof
As a student’s first official point of contact with the university, and their key administrative interface throughout their studies, the student centre was designed to affirm Morgan’s State’s long-standing position as a preeminent public university with a positive future.
One entrance is located at street-level and the other is a full storey above, at the campus commons.
Much care was given to finding a limestone cladding that would blend with the palette of Maryland field stone found on the older adjacent buildings while allowing for a more contemporary architectural expression desired by the university.
After a thorough material selection process, the university settled on distinctively dark Eramosa limestone from a quarry in Ontario, located three hours north of Teeple Architects’ office.
The limestone cladding is accented with prismatic metal cladding that subtly shifts between rich copper and orange hues, depending on the weather, time of day and viewing angle.
Topographically, both the academic quad and the campus commons sit a full storey above the surrounding neighborhood.
To negotiate the grade separation, there are two connected main entrances.
The building has an expressive form, with sweeping curved walls that reach out to embrace its surroundings and invite students into the dynamic campus, while its stone cladding links it to history and tradition.
A large, landscaped arrival court invites students and visitors towards the street-level entrance where grand stairs, both interior and exterior, mark a formal procession up to the campus commons-level.
With the ground floor partially embedded into the hillside, the landscape encircling the building makes use of terraced rain gardens or heavily planted bio-retention features designed to meet Baltimore’s stringent storm water management requirements.
Inside, the student centre features departmental reception areas and service desks organized along a series of flowing, multi-storey lounges with ample seating, study, and collaboration spaces.
The iconic new student centre embodies the university’s pride in its history, and optimism for the future.
On the third floor there’s a large, landscaped terrace, planted with tall grasses and native pollinator species including Maryland’s state flower, the black-eyed Susan.
A monumental stair with gently curved landings and a continuous wood soffit forms the connective tissue between the three levels of public lobbies and lounges, leading to various student-facing departments and culminating with a large student services counter.
A space for small events and gatherings, this terrace has panoramic views of the academic quad, centered on historic Holmes Hall.
