Morgan State University Calvin & Tina Tyler Hall

Baltimore, MD

Details: Admissions, recruitment, enrollment, financial aid, bursar, career development, work study; Meeting spaces, work spaces, visitor reception/information; LEED Gold Certified; Managing Firm: GWWO Architects; Design Architect: Teeple Architects

Owner: Morgan State University

Services: Community Involvement, Sustainable Design, Interior Design, Full Design Services, Construction Administration, Building Information Modeling

Morgan State University is one of the nation’s premier historically black institutions of higher education and the largest in Maryland. Home to student services and various business functions, the new Calvin & Tina Tyler Hall seamlessly bridges the historic neoclassical style academic quad and the modern campus commons, while establishing an iconic and uplifting university ‘front-door’.

Tyler Hall improves the student experience by establishing a welcoming entry point for current and prospective students and by gathering the university’s formerly dispersed student services and administrative functions. As a student’s first official point of contact, and their administrative interface, the building was designed to affirm MSU’s long-standing position as a preeminent public university.

The new 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. Topographically, the academic quad and the campus commons sit a story above the surrounding neighborhood. To negotiate the grade separation, there are two connected main entrances: one at street-level and the other at the campus commons. 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.

Awards

AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Public Building of the Year & Honor Award
AIA Baltimore Grand Design Award
ASLA Maryland Honor Award
Society for College & University Planning (SCUP) Excellence in Architecture Honor Award
The Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards Honorable Mention
Architizer A+ Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities Finalist & Popular Choice Winner
The Plan Award Finalist
USGBC Maryland Community Leader Project Award Finalist

The LEED Gold certified building's green design features include a green roof with native plant species and light colored roofing materials to minimize heat island effect, LED energy efficient lighting, natural daylighting along with lighting control sensors to lower building lighting when daylighting is sufficient, and energy recovering HVAC systems. Other features include the use of regional materials originating inside a radius of 500 miles from the project site for the vast majority of components in the building, thus reducing carbon emissions due to extreme travel distances.

Inside, the building features reception areas and service desks organized along a series of flowing, multi-story lounges with seating, study, and collaboration spaces. 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, anchored by a student services counter. A landscaped terrace on the third floor affords panoramic views of the academic quad, centered on historic Holmes Hall. The iconic building embodies the university’s pride in its history and optimism for the future.