The Three Alumni Who Reimagined One of Temple's Most Iconic Buildings
After meeting at Temple, three Tyler alumni returned decades later to lead one of the university’s most ambitious campus transformations. Their enduring connection to Temple is reflected not only in the new Paley Hall, but also in a scholarship that helps the next generation of Tyler students succeed.
By Matt Michaels
“It feels like a marriage. I see them more than my wife!”
That is how Mario Zacharjasz, TYL ’85, jokingly refers to his relationship with his two partners Michael Skolnick, TYL ’80, and David Polatnick, TYL ’85, at PZS Architects. Close friends and colleagues for decades, the three collaborated on the transformation of Paley Library into Paley Hall, the new home of the Barnett College of Public Health, which reopened on Temple Main Campus in the fall of 2025.
To fully understand their relationship, you must go back to their time at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture. After taking a class together, Mario and David quickly formed a friendship that continued through graduation together and beyond. Michael had graduated a few years earlier, but Mario met him while interning at a local lighting design company. They quickly hit it off, and Michael even helped Mario with his thesis project.
1993: Polatnick Zacharjasz Architects was founded.
1993: Polatnick Zacharjasz Architects was founded.
1998: Michael joins the firm, and it becomes PZS Architects.
1998: Michael joins the firm, and it becomes PZS Architects.
The three remained close after graduating from Temple, and their paths came together professionally in 1993, when Mario and David founded Polatnick Zacharjasz Architects. A few years later, Michael, who was working at a large Philadelphia firm with more than 100 employees, was ready for a change. He joined the firm in 1998, prompting its renaming to PZS Architects. As Mario recalls, “He told me he wanted to be more involved in the decision making, so he became our third partner, and the rest is history.”
And history would eventually be made, indeed.
Their different approaches and personalities continue to be key to how PZS has succeeded over the years. “We complement each other because we’re able to diversify in clientele, type of work and culture. It just gelled; it just works,” Mario said. The momentum they had built over the years at PZS came to a crescendo in 2018 when their firm landed the renovation and adaptive reuse of Temple’s Paley Library. The process, however, was anything but quick, and the project itself ended up a bit differently than how it started.
A Timeline of Paley & Progress
1966
2015
2021
2023
2024
2026
“It was certainly a multistep process: putting together a proposal, a team to submit, then getting shortlisted and making a presentation. Then once we got selected, negotiating a contract,” Michael explained. 2019 is when the project officially got going, but it was subsequently shut down shortly after due to COVID-19 in early 2020. “Things were on hold, and the university had to figure out how to proceed with it. The project was much smaller when it started.”
A virtual flythrough to show what the new Paley Hall would look like.
Michael revealed that originally, the project was a renovation and an adaptive reuse of the existing Paley Library building with a modest addition to the existing building. The fact that it grew, he said, was a testament to the College and its staff. “It developed thanks to the dean at the time, who was a really strong advocate for the college, and it then grew significantly to create a central home for the College of Public Health which was formally located in 13 buildings across 2 different campuses. Collaborating with our design partners, Temple’s Project Delivery Group and the College faculty from the dean on down to the different department heads—they were in it with us for years. Just going through and trying to figure out what was best for the college and students,” he said.
The process of not just renovating the building but creating brand-new infrastructure was far from easy, though.
A look inside Paley as it was under construction.
A look inside Paley as it was under construction.
“As an old library, it’s a very large floor plate. It’s a massive structure with columns that are close together. How do you take that massive floor plate and bring neutral light into the center of it?” Michael said. To go from the enclosed Paley Library to a vibrantly open Paley Hall, they created a series of stepped openings into the structure on successive floors to bring light in from the south side, penetrating all the way to the lobby on the north side. “You can create plans, and believe it will work, but when you finally walk in, look up and see the light filled space, it’s exciting.”
Inside the New Paley Hall
The seven-year project was ultimately completed in fall 2025, opening to the public with enormous fanfare, fueled in part by Chris Barnett’s $55 million gift to the school.
Seeing the building in person was the true culmination of years of hard work and decades of Temple connection for the three friends. “It was such an amazing feeling to see it complete. The three of us just walked around the building in awe,” Mario said. “Everyone we spoke to, all these young students, they were so excited to be in this building. The services and programs are fantastic and have so many dimensions. There’s a lot of pride there. These types of buildings and projects are transformational for not just the campus, but for the entire community.”
“It’s really uplifting. Being able to walk through, talk to people using the building. Hearing the stories of how thrilled they are, how wonderful they feel the space is. That’s the true payoff for us,” Michael said. “To see it used in this way is gratifying.”
An aerial view of the new Paley Hall on campus.
An aerial view of the new Paley Hall on campus.
The trio have also stayed firmly connected to the university by launching the PZS Architect Scholarship Fund, which assists students in the master’s program at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. “One of my thoughts was, what can we give back to Temple? To Tyler? The architecture program? This is where I decided to become an architect. It’s my career; it’s the institution that helped me get to that spot. At some point you give back,” Mario said.
Mario, Michael and David at the Paley Hall launch in 2025.
Mario, Michael and David at the Paley Hall launch in 2025.
Michael added that it just feels necessary to pay it forward in this way: “After you achieve a certain level of success, I think it affords you some time to start thinking about factors like this, and say, ‘Hey, why not try and help other people get that start in life and do what we’ve done?’”
For the three of them, staying connected to Temple comes easily. Mario in particular was honored as a 2019 Gallery of Success recipient and currently serves as Chair on Tyler’s Board of Visitors.
“So many different generations of students will get to use it [Paley Hall] and be educated with it,” Michael added. It seems to dawn on them that what they’ve created will last for generations. “For longevity, it’s going to be there for a long time. That’s pretty cool.”
Scholarship support is a chance to transform lives and invest in the next generation of Owls. The PZS Architects Scholarship Fund provides financial support for a graduate student in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Join us in our mission to make a Temple education more affordable by closing a very real financial gap for many students and families.
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