First Phase of $75-Million GSPH Construction Project Completed

The Graduate School of Public Health debuted the first phase of a $75-million construction and renovation project on Jan. 30: a 58,000-square-foot laboratory pavilion and a 215-seat auditorium, construction of which both began in Fall 2011.

This first phase completed four stories of new construction next to Parran Hall, which houses the Graduate School of Public Health and is located on Fifth Avenue. The building, which was named in honor of Thomas Parran, Jr., former U.S. surgeon general, was originally constructed in 1957.

The laboratory pavilion—three floors with 16,000-square-feet of laboratories per floor—will be used for research related to infectious diseases and microbiology, human genetics, environmental and occupational health, and epidemiology. The new auditorium will serve as a lecture and event space, welcoming top national and international leaders in public health.

The second phase of the project will be the renovation of Parran Hall and the conjoined Crabtree Hall, which was built about 10 years after Parran Hall opened. This second phase will include modern offices, open meeting spaces, collaborative research areas, “smart” classrooms, a student lounge and study space, and a donor recognition wall. The renovations will also improve the heating, cooling, ventilation, and electrical infrastructure of the building. The earliest completion date will be 2018. 

The architects for the project are Pittsburgh-based Renaissance 3 Architects and Boston-based Wilson Architects. The University is pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the renovation of both buildings.

In attendance during the Jan. 30 ribbon-cutting ceremony were Arthur S. Levine, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of Medicine; Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg; and Donald Burke, dean of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health and UPMC-Jonas Salk Chair in Global Health, among others in the Pitt and the broader Pittsburgh community.