Northrup Hall

Since the 1950s, Northrup Hall has served as the administrative nexus of Trinity’s campus, hosting Trustee Board meetings, president’s offices, and a number of other services. Northrup was originally built as a long, flat, two-story slab that extended almost all the way from the center of campus to Stadium Drive.

The original Northrup Hall was a revolutionary feat of engineering and design in its own right. It was the first major building in the entire United States to be built using the innovative “lift-slab” technique, where workers built concrete slabs at ground level and lifted them into place using tension screws fastened to the top of the building's upright beams and powered by hydraulic pressure.

At the time, this method represented a radical change in architectural design and construction methods that reduced initial costs, sped up the building program, and established Trinity as a pacesetter in imaginative campus planning.

But as the decades wore on, even the once-impressive Northrup Hall was hard-pressed to keep up with Trinity’s growth. As Trinity prepared to enter the 21st century, University Trustees began exploring the possibilities of either renovating Northrup Hall or erecting a new administration building and classroom complex. After a series of studies, the board decided to raze Northrup Hall and replace it with a new structure, estimated to cost between $15 and $20 million.

Following an assessment of University needs, Trinity Trustees decided to finance construction of a new Northrup Hall by issuing tax-exempt bonds of approximately $30 million. A competition among architectural firms was held to design a building that would blend the activities of faculty, staff, and students, address the front entrance to the University, provide sufficient parking, and create a mall-like atmosphere through the center of the campus.

From four finalists, the Trustees chose the New York firm of Robert A. M. Stern Architects. They deemed that the proposed design, "two relatively narrow four-story wings connected by a central lobby on each floor and a glass-enclosed grand staircase that runs through the entire building," best complemented the existing campus architecture and integrated academic and administrative areas. Faculty and staff vacated Northup Hall in May 2002, and the building was subsequently razed. Construction commenced in July, and offices began to be occupied in March 2004.