Photos vary, from March 2024 to May 2026.
MacQuigg Lab, as it stood from its construction until very recently, was an orthodox Modern composition that was very Miesian with its expansive curtain wall and vertical beams. However, it was gutted and made up with a brand-new Contemporary face as part of the Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering Complex project. This is the latest example of the rapidly changing character of north campus, shifting from dated Modernist works to new, shiny glass boxes.
MacQuigg Lab is located on north campus. It is bordered by Woodruff Avenue and Haverfield House to the north, 19th Avenue to the south, the construction site that used to be Watts Hall to the east, and Fontana Labs to the west.
MacQuigg Lab History
MacQuigg Lab nearing completion, c. 1967. (Knowlton Archives)
MacQuigg Lab was built as the “Materials Engineering and Science Building” and was conceived as an addition to the Metallurgical Engineering Building (Fontana Labs). It was designed by university architect W. E. Linch in 1965, and its construction began that May by J. J. Barnes Construction Co. MacQuigg Lab was ready for use in December 1967. With a concrete frame and brick exterior, the building was designed in the Mid-Century Modern style.
More recent photo of the south facade. (Knowlton Archives)
MacQuigg Lab’s most striking feature was its large expanses of Miesian curtain walls, a move very typical of its time. The windows were separated by sea-green spandrels, and metal mullions lined the facade vertically, which provided vertical emphasis. These have since been removed, and they have been replaced by contemporary black windows that do not achieve the same effect. I don’t really like that the renovation is doing away with the little character and whimsy that Modernist architecture could provide.
View of the late 80s glass block walls. (Knowlton Archives)
Before the current modifications to MacQuigg Lab began, a few other alterations occurred. In 1987, the originally open base was enclosed with the glass block walls seen above, likely to expand study space within the building. Additionally, the original, wide cement walkway that spanned the width of the “walk-through space” to Woodruff Avenue was reduced in size between 2007 and 2012. A similar modification was made to the rear, but it occurred much later, between 2016 and 2020.
MacQuigg Lab is currently being renovated as part of the Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering Complex project. Like its original program, it is intended to be one of a set of buildings that serves the larger engineering school, as opposed to individual buildings that are more specialized. MacQuigg Lab specifically has been gutted and had much of its facade removed, and it will receive a glassy Contemporary face replacing the original windows and a new interior. This work is being done by DLR Group.
MacQuigg Lab is named after Charles MacQuigg. He was born in Ironton in 1885 and attended The Ohio State University, graduating with his degree in mechanical engineering in 1909. MacQuigg worked a few jobs after graduation, such as a civil engineer at the Santa Fe railroad, but he began teaching as head of the Metallurgy Department at Penn State between 1912 and 1917. He served in the Army afterwards, eventually earning the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Officers Reserve Corps. After his active service ended in 1919, he performed research at the Carbide and Carbon Co. until 1937, where he began his tenure as dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State. MacQuigg held this role until his death in 1952.
Watts Hall History
East of MacQuigg Lab, where the new addition is being constructed, used to lie an older Modernist building known as Watts Hall. It was designed as the “Chemical Abstracts Building” by Potter, Tyler, Martin, and Roth in 1954, intended for the Chemical Abstracts Service of the American Chemical Society, which provided some of the fees for its construction. The building’s construction began that October, and it was completed in 1955.
The Chemical Abstracts Building’s original appearance. (Knowlton Archives)
In 1959, the above architects designed an addition to Watts Hall that extended the building by one story. It was completed in 1961. By 1965, Chemical Abstracts moved off-campus and the building was transferred to the university. It was renovated for usage by Ceramics Engineering and to connect it to the newly constructed MacQuigg Lab.
Color photo of Watts Hall after its addition. (Knowlton Archives)
Watts Hall has its own Wikipedia article, which is unusual for a rather pedestrian building. However, it was likely due to a terrorist attack that occurred there in 2016. As students evacuated the building after a suspected fluorine leak, an attacker influenced by ISIS propaganda drove a car into the courtyard intending to strike students. He exited the vehicle and attempted to stab students. The attacker was shot and killed by police officers after refusing to drop his weapon.
Watts Hall was demolished in 2022 for the construction of the BMEC project.
Photos
Like Campbell Hall’s third installment, most of this post’s material is going to be older photos I had laying around, except for one I took today right before I left Columbus for good. As such, that makes that final picture the last one I will ever take on campus for this blog. The rest are construction progress, which is pretty unusual fare for this blog.
This view in March 2024 shows MacQuigg gutted, with its interior and Miesian windows missing:
Demolition ongoing on the east end:
A similar view in September 2024, with more of the interior exposed:
You can see the concrete floor slabs pretty well. On the east end, the elevator shafts of the addition were being poured:
This view from November 2024 shows progress on the concrete structure:
Another angle:
From the Arps Garage in January 2025 (this is when I was shooting Evans Lab):
Some steel framing for the brick veneer was up at this point.
By September 2025, the exterior was nearing completion. In the rear, all that’s missing is a few windows and some cladding:
Windows are in place:
Looks like the masons were laying brick that day:
Metal framing of the glass box thingy:
Windows on MacQuigg were mostly placed:
This building was completed in late April or early May of 2026, as I remember the south side of Woodruff being finally walkable around finals season. However, I don’t think the interior was ever open to students. I grabbed this photo literally right before I hit the road back to Illinois:
You know what? I don’t really like it. The addition doesn’t relate well to MacQuigg except through its massing, the glass box on the corner looks out of place, and MacQuigg has been stripped of whatever little character it once had.
Sources:
https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/24059
https://knowltondl.osu.edu/Browse/objects/facet/collection_facet/id/18
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133531078/charles-ellison-macquigg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Ohio_State_University_attack
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