Anne and Charles Duncan Hall
Duncan Hall is one of the flagship buildings of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University and serves as the home of the Department of Computer Science. The building is situated north of Lovett Hall, the oldest and most photographed building on campus. Visitors can enter the campus via Entrance One (1) on the corner of Main Street and Sunset Boulevard or Entrance Two (2) on Main Street. For deliveries, use Entrance 23 on Rice Boulevard.
What Classrooms are in Duncan Hall?
Duncan Hall houses five classrooms ranging in occupancy from 35 - 73 students. All five classrooms are clustered around the main foyer space named Martel Hall. McMurtry Auditorium also opens into Martel Hall. The combination of the auditorium and hall allows Rice to host numerous professional meetings and guest lectures.
- DCH 1042 - Shell Classroom - 46
- DCH 1046 - Carroll Classroom - 46
- DCH 1075 - Kieschnick Classroom - 35
- DCH 1064 - Pollard Lecture Hall - 73
- DCH 1070 - Mabee Lecture Hall - 73
- DCH 1055 - McMurtry Auditorium - 240
- DCH 1020 SYM II - Windows Computer Lab – 66
More about Duncan Hall
The architect, John Outram, is known for his provocative use of interior and exterior decoration. Outram believes in an architecture of ideas and themes. He uses these themes to create thought-provoking interiors. He believes that buildings and their inhabitants interact in fundamental and subconscious ways. Bricks, mortar, concrete and wallboard are employed to foster a sense of community and to imbue Outram's buildings with a sense of energy and of purpose.
Thus, Duncan Hall is designed to encourage interaction across academic disciplines, specifically disciplines focused on applying computation to problems in engineering and science. It contains private spaces for concentration and public spaces for collaboration. It has laboratories and classrooms for education and auditoriums for presentation. Its interior vistas catch the eye and its exterior accents harmonize with the campus.
The ceiling mural in Martel Hall, Duncan Hall's main open space, is entitled "The Birth of Consciousness." It aptly conveys this message as envisioned in the mind of Outram. Viewing the mural is a regular stop on many Rice campus tours.