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
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 50 Medical Office Building Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, Gresham Smith, KPFF Consulting Engineers, and IMEG Corp. head the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 100 Medical Office Building Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
CannonDesign, Perkins Eastman, HGA, and E4H Environments for Health Architecture top the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Green | Oct 5, 2022
In California, a public power provider’s new headquarters serves as a test case for an innovative microgrid and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Sonoma Clean Power (SCP), the public power provider for California’s Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, recently unveiled its new all-electric headquarters.
| Sep 23, 2022
Central offices making a comeback after pandemic
In the early stages of the Covid pandemic, commercial real estate industry experts predicted that businesses would increasingly move toward a hub-and-spoke office model.
| Sep 20, 2022
New Long Beach office building reflects Mid-Century Modern garden-style motif
The new Long Beach, Calif., headquarters of Laserfiche, a provider of intelligent content management and business process automation software, was built on a brownfield parcel previously considered undevelopable.
| Sep 6, 2022
Demand for flexible workspace reaches all-time high
Demand for flexible workspace including coworking options has never been higher, according to a survey from Yardi Kube, a space management software provider that is part of Yardi Systems.
| Sep 2, 2022
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper, greener than building new
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper and greener than tearing down old office properties and building new residential buildings.
Mass Timber | Aug 30, 2022
Mass timber construction in 2022: From fringe to mainstream
Two Timberlab executives discuss the market for mass timber construction and their company's marketing and manufacturing strategies. Sam Dicke, Business Development Manager, and Erica Spiritos, Director of Preconstruction, Timberlab, speak with BD+C's John Caulfield.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
