The Posner Center is home to CMU Libraries Special Collections — the university’s repository for rare books, manuscripts, and early calculating devices and cryptographic machines. Beginning January 2025, the interior of the Posner Center will undergo a major renovation, updating and expanding the space in order to engage the CMU and greater Pittsburgh community on a wider scale.
Designed by Perkins Eastman architects, the redeveloped interior will support and promote Special Collections’ four core activities: student engagement and instruction; exhibitions and public events; collection storage, security, and preservation; and research. Part museum and part laboratory for the humanities, the reimagined space will serve as Carnegie Mellon’s destination for discovery, research, and hands-on engagement with the past.
“Carnegie Mellon is a great university,” said Curator of Special Collections Sam Lemley. “And after the renovation of the Posner Center, it will have a great Special Collections library to match — a vibrant and accessible space for interdisciplinary research, firsthand engagement with rare books and objects, and cutting-edge scholarship.”
A gift of Henry and Helen Posner Jr. in memory of Henry Posner Sr. and his wife Ida, the Posner Center is an 11,400 square foot earth-sheltered building designed by Paul Whitehead of WTW Architects. Constructed in 2004 as a LEED-certified facility to provide museum-quality storage and exhibit space for the Posner Memorial Collection, the building was also, until 2024, the venue for CMU Board of Trustee meetings and events. The rooftop features the Kraus Campo, a meditative outdoor space created by 1962 College of Fine Arts graduate Melvin Bochner and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
Now, after 20 years, the Posner Center will become even more integrated into key Libraries activities.
Central to the new design is a public exhibition gallery with museum-quality display cases and adaptive lighting. Behind the scenes, designs also include secure shelving and storage to accommodate the collection’s long term growth. A public-facing reception area and welcome desk will provide information and access to students and visitors looking to engage with items held in the collection and on display.
“This renovation reimagines the building as a living collection, providing the CMU and greater Pittsburgh community with unprecedented access to engage with our distinctive art, history, and artifact collections,” said Associate Director of Creative Heidi Wiren Kébé, who has served as art director for numerous past Libraries exhibitions — including “Inventing Shakespeare” in Hunt Library and its sister exhibition at the Frick Pittsburgh, as well as “Violins of Hope,” which was mounted in the Posner Center in the fall of 2023. “We will soon be a center of access, involvement, and awareness on an entirely new scale.”
Gili Meerovitch, Perkins Eastman’s library practice leader, highlighted some key features that will help achieve this goal. “Designed to serve as both a scholarly and community resource, the reimagined Posner Center blends scholarly content with engaging design, pairing traditional exhibits with projections, artifacts, and striking visuals,” she explained. “It integrates formal displays with visible research and preservation processes, emphasizing their role in scholarship. Modular exhibit cases ensure adaptability for diverse teaching, research, and creative needs.”
The updated space will further elevate student and researcher experience. A 300-square foot silent reading room will be available for visiting researchers, as well as for small course visits. An additional classroom and flex space will accommodate both collections-based instruction on a larger scale, as well as large events open to the public.
Additionally, Special Collections staff will gain additional work and office spaces. Visitors and students will also have access to additional spaces to work, including seating and cafe-style worktops. The renovation will brighten and refresh the spaces by replacing dark finishes, while paying homage to historic aspects of the building like its distinct organic geometry.
“The renovation preserves legacy features such as the building's stone-clad walls and curved motifs while updating the space for modern utility,” said Jeff Young, Principal in Charge for the project. “With improved lighting, integrated technology, and a refined finish palette, the design blends legacy features with contemporary updates, creating a vibrant space for exhibits, learning, and cultural preservation.”
The plans also include a new home for the Libraries’ Digitization lab, so the digitization team can work with the collections on site rather than removing them from secure storage. Nearby, a multimedia studio will allow Lemley to photograph and film the collections, in order to share them with the public on an even wider scale.
“Since its construction in 2004 the Posner Center has hosted hundreds of events, exhibitions, and classes, and thousands of CMU students and researchers,” said Lemley. “This renovation will build on that legacy and the exceptional quality of the Posner Memorial Collection. The redesigned interior will advance the growth of the program and realize the Libraries' ambition to form a world class Special Collections library and research center in the heart of Pittsburgh.”
The Posner Center is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2025 with an inaugural exhibition that showcases highlights from Special Collections. A reopening event will reintroduce the space as a leading and enduring institute for cultural heritage — one that will preserve and provide access to rare books and artifacts, promote and sustain the curiosity of CMU students and researchers, host innovative exhibits, and inspire groundbreaking scholarship for years to come.
To stay up to date on renovation milestones, visit the renovation webpage.