The University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees has approved the design development for converting a former DuPont laboratory and research warehouse into a seminal component of a new campus hub for entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators, according to ArchDaily.
The three-story, 58,000-sf Pennovation Center, as it’s being called, will be at the heart of Pennovation Works, a blend of offices, labs, and production spaces situated within 23 acres along the Schuykill River and adjacent to the university’s main campus in Philadelphia.
The $37.5 million first phase includes investment for the Pennovation Center, site landscaping, infrastructure improvements, signage and branding. The center is scheduled to open in the summer of 2016.
“The Pennovation Center design creates a truly iconic landmark for Penn’s innovation ecosystem and a dynamic hub for Penn’s culture of innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Amy Gutmann, Penn’s President.
She adds that the center would bring the University’s eminent researchers, scientists, and extraordinary students together with the private sector to “foster creative exploration, entrepreneurship and new alliances and to generate economic development for the region.”
The Building Team on this project includes HWKN as its design architect, KSS Architects (architect of record), Land Collective (landscape architect), Bruce Mau Design (design consultant), Ballinger (structural and MEP engineer), Focus (lighting consultant), and Atelier Ten (sustainability consultant).
Pennovation Center “creates a diverse mix of environments suitable for privacy, collaboration, socialization and the business side of growing a company,” says HWKN Principal Matthias Hollwich.
Two floors of the Pennovation Center are designed to support individual entrepreneurs and startups from the university and the private sector seeking affordable and flexible office space. The center will host workshops, programs, and professional-development resources for the community. These floors will include wet and dry labs with shared lab-support equipment, meeting rooms and social areas.
The Penn Engineering Field Research Center will occupy the third floor, integrating computer science and electrical, mechanical and systems engineering. (Penn Engineering is expected to open its lab in this building in the fall of 2015.)
The design plans show a northern façade of the center that bursts from the grid of the repurposed former industrial warehouse with illuminated angular panes of glass. A series of garage doors on the eastern façade opens directly to studio spaces for some of the teams that will work in the building. The interior design includes a central bleacher space, which organizes an open environment for events and a place for people to network and share ideas.
Related Stories
Building Owners | Feb 4, 2021
The Weekly show, Feb 4, 2021: The rise of healthy buildings and human performance
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Brookfield Properties, NBBJ, and UL about healthy buildings certification and improving human performance through research-based design.
AEC Tech | Jan 28, 2021
The Weekly show, Jan 28, 2021: Generative design tools for feasibility studies, and landscape design trends in the built environment
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Studio-MLA and TestFit about landscape design trends in the built environment, and how AEC teams and real estate developers can improve real estate feasibility studies with real-time generative design.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 27, 2021
2021 multifamily housing outlook: Dallas, Miami, D.C., will lead apartment completions
In its latest outlook report for the multifamily rental market, Yardi Matrix outlined several reasons for hope for a solid recovery for the multifamily housing sector in 2021, especially during the second half of the year.
Modular Building | Jan 26, 2021
Offsite manufacturing startup iBUILT positions itself to reduce commercial developers’ risks
iBUILT plans to double its production capacity this year, and usher in more technology and automation to the delivery process.
Architects | Jan 26, 2021
Perkins&Will and AIA set stage for industry adoption of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (J.E.D.I) programs
A new white paper provides U.S. architecture firms with clear guidance on establishing just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive work cultures.
Data Centers | Jan 21, 2021
The Weekly show, Jan 21, 2021: Data centers in a pandemic world, and LGBT certification for AEC firms
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders about LGBT certification for architecture, engineering, and construction firms, and the current state of data centers in a pandemic world.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 20, 2021
Abandoned Miami hospital gets third life as waterfront condo development
The 1920s King Cole Hotel becomes the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami in the largest residential adaptive reuse project in South Florida.
Market Data | Jan 19, 2021
2021 construction forecast: Nonresidential building spending will drop 5.7%, bounce back in 2022
Healthcare and public safety are the only nonresidential construction sectors that will see growth in spending in 2021, according to AIA's 2021 Consensus Construction Forecast.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 14, 2021
The Weekly show, Jan 14, 2021: Passive House innovations, and launching a design studio during the pandemic
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders about innovations in Passive House design, and the challenges of building a design team and opening a new design studio during a pandemic.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 8, 2021
Student housing development in the time of COVID-19
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, many college and university residences were completed in time for classes, live or virtual. Here are 14 of the best.
