Now a handsome plaza and rear entrance lead to the House and Senate offices in the new East Wing. Architect Thomas C. Celli of Pittsburgh and his associates skillfully created the neoclassical design of the East Wing as a companion to Hutson's turn-of-the-century masterpiece.
The East Wing won the Classical America Award in 1986. The New York Times in 1989 added its praise; "perhaps the most ambitious work in the classical mode in the United States in a generation." The Times said the East Wing gives "a second public face for the Capitol without having to tinker at all with the main facade," and the result makes the entire Capitol Complex "one of the finest groupings of classical buildings in the United States, a cluster that brings to mind such better known places as the Federal Triangle in Washington and the Civic Center in San Francisco."
The East Wing, dedicated in 1987, contains almost 100 legislative offices, the Welcome Center, a large cafeteria, the "Little Rotunda", conference rooms and staff offices.
Traditional touches, such as the hand-laid interior ceramic tiles created to match the Capitol's famous Mercer tiles from Doylestown, have been combined with modern technology, specifically the computer-controlled fountain and pool, the energy efficient air and heating controls, and the interactive Welcome Center.