A Renovated Space:

501 Cathedral of Learning

"I know it will always be 501 to many people, but its official title reflects our community." -Dean Twyning

"The English Commons Room is an extraordinary architectural renovation. Like the Cathedral, it holds together many different styles and times."

The renovations of the space in 501 attempted to be sensitive to the overall design of the Cathedral. At one time, the space functioned as a library, and a large, semi-circular desk used to check out books sat in front of the Commons Room.  John Twyning, department chair during the renovations, worked with architects to maintain the same gothic style characteristic of the original space. “In a way, the old 501 lives on,” explained Twyning. Designers of the new space re-integrated the decorative woodwork from the library desk back into the room, and used the same chandelier designer who worked on the last remodel of the Cathedral of Learning. This helped to preserve its original gothic style. Even the walls of the new space, lined with architectural blueprints, evoke the Cathedral’s origins.

"The oak wainscoting from the old University library was beautifully crafted in what is known as the Decorated Gothic style; characterized by the quatrefoil moulding, and the ogee arch. This quatrefoil design was also the inspiration for the large light fixtures. "

The old space, Twyning remembered, wasn’t perfect. “Jim Seitz and I taught a graduate course together there, and our students always sat on either end of the room, quite like a tennis match. It was difficult to keep sense of the whole room. The space was noisy from the photocopier in the corridor, and in the winter all we heard was the puffing billy radiator wheeze and puff.” With new sound paneling on the inside of the Commons Room, Twyning said that he enjoys listening to speakers in 501 and finds the new space comfortable, with the exception of the chairs. “Perhaps just to clear my name, I should say I didn’t pick the chairs,” he laughed.

"Like a distant cousin, we can see Heinz Chapel through the window, which evokes yet another style, place, and era. It is a pocket version of the Rayonnant style, a form of French High Gothic, and in architectural terms has more in common with the oak wainscot than the Perpendicular Gothic of the Cathedral, which many deem to be a particularly English style."

“Pittsburgh itself has a tradition of glass gothic structures, like PPG Place downtown, and through the windows in 501, we have an open view of another gothic building, Heinz Chapel,” said Twyning. Although designers of the space wanted to showcase the chapel through the Commons Room corridor, Twyning explained that he worried about sensitive meetings that required more privacy than glass could provide. “So we looked into a type of semi-permeable barrier in the form of glass that becomes opaque at the flick of the switch,” he said. When guests visit the University to speak in 501, people walking off of the elevator can see through the glass and watch the lecture with Heinz Chapel in the background, but when department meetings are held, passersby peer into frosted glass. 

"Other parts of the room reflect the Cathedral’s mix of architectural styles including a form of the Perpendicular Gothic with an Art Deco gloss, noticeable in the pillars, beams, and ceiling."

Given the extent and scope of the renovation, the department coped rather well. “The hardest part of the whole ordeal was the logistics of finding comfortable meeting space, and room for our advisors whom we sent to Old Engineering Hall, which seems like something out of Harry Potter. But I think that the new renovations show that the University values the department and the study of English at this institution.”  

"It is appropriate that the wall panels should contain copies of the original architectural drawings for the Cathedral of Learning. The unique glass not only enables the room to become a discrete place when necessary, but also helps keep the integrity of its special design features."

—John Twyning and Dana Edmunds

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