leed gold buildings in oakland

Three LEED Gold Buildings Add New Density to Pittsburgh’s University District

The design of Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Central Oakland neighborhood, the region’s institutional corridor, calls for significant urban density. Increasing density enables a district to aggregate resource use, like transportation, energy, water, and even food, which achieves greater efficiency across regional systems while contributing to a more vibrant place overall. Meaning, when more people are co-located they become a more viable market for local businesses and services and a more diverse audience for cultural actvity. Contributing to this vision, evolveEA recently completed the LEED certifications of three new buildings in Oakland, demonstrating notable sustainability outcomes as well. Two new towers facing each other across Forbes Avenue, as well as a university research center that was a former gas station have each achieved LEED Gold certification.

The Bridge on Forbes, a $40 million 197 unit residential building; the Murdoch Building, a $22 million 8-story building containing offices for the University of Pittsburgh and ground floor retail; and TCS Hall North, a $39 million six-story robotics office and research building for Carnegie Mellon University are the latest New Construction projects to take shape along the corridor. These buildings will also contribute to the Pittsburgh 2030 District goals of carbon and water reduction, as well as neighborhood connectivity.

Situated in a landscape of higher education institutions where universities have typically been leading the green building charge, these new developments demonstrate a fresh commitment to sustainable practices. Indeed, the Murdoch Building is the first commercial office space to be newly built in Oakland in nearly a decade. As part of one of the densest corridors in the Pittsburgh region and third largest business district in Pennsylvania, the Bridge at Forbes and Forbes at Coltart Murdoch buildings each qualified for density bonuses granted by the City of Pittsburgh due to their LEED certifications.

TCS Hall North

Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
MEP Engineer: Buro Happold
Contractor: Mascaro Construction
Owner: Carnegie Mellon University

Forbes at Coltart Murdoch Building

Architect: JMac
MEP Engineer: Allen & Shariff
Contractor: Mascaro Construction

The Bridge on Forbes

Architect: Desmone Architects
MEP Engineer: BDA
Contractor: Rycon Construction

TCS Hall North on CMU's campus. Image by Marc Mondor
TCS Hall North on CMU's campus, a LEED Gold building.
The Murdoch Building (left) faces Bridge on Forbes (right) in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, with Forbes Avenue in the middle. Both buildings attained LEED Gold status within a week of each other in 2020.

Evolve EA