A New Front Door for Innovation on Campus
Institute Hall is a 78,000-square-foot academic and research facility at Rochester Institute of Technology, purpose-built for the Biomedical Engineering Program. The five-story building features general-use classrooms on the first floor, with biomedical and chemical engineering laboratories on the second through fourth floors supporting both teaching and research. A mechanical penthouse occupies the fifth floor. Key program elements include a vivarium, thin film coating laboratory, faculty offices, and a state-of-the-art Green Data Center, all connected by flexible collaboration spaces designed to promote interdisciplinary engagement.
Strategically sited, Institute Hall completes the formation of a new quadrangle by connecting with neighboring research buildings, reinforcing campus cohesion and supporting RIT’s continued investment in innovation and interdisciplinary learning.
Designed to Draw People In
The building’s lobby, anchored by a café and framed by expansive glass, serves as a welcoming gateway from adjacent parking areas to the academic core of campus. A distinctive curved glass curtain wall softens the building’s form, enhances natural daylighting, and responds to pedestrian flow, giving Institute Hall a presence that feels both inviting and intentional.
Our firm served as Architect of Record in collaboration with Francis Cauffman Architects, shaping a facility that doesn’t just house research and learning but creates the kind of environment where both happen naturally.
