PHILADELPHIA—The University of Pennsylvania’s Library System, Penn Medicine, and the Biology Department, sought to offer a radically new way of doing research, collaboration, and providing assistance to investigators. Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP (VMA) was tasked with transforming the existing Biomedical Library and 8,000 sf of adjacent space into an open center for cross-disciplinary learning, prototyping, and collaboration. The redesigned space opened its doors to the public in September 2021.

The renovation rethinks what a university library can be in an era when book reference and individual research have given way to digital learning, hands-on making, and transdisciplinary exploration. Gone are the carrels and the stacks, replaced with tech-integrated conference spaces, collaboration classrooms with moveable furniture and boards, and a digital fabrication lab equipped with modeling tools and 3D printers.

Biotech Commons supports new modes of research by offering a range of spaces and services that better support how people learn and work. Students can schedule time in study rooms or book consultations in the makerspace. And unlike typical University libraries, Biotech Commons does not require a Penn ID for access on weekdays before 6PM, making it a barrier-free place that drives innovation by inviting professionals, students, and community members to collaborate.

To serve the diverse needs of its users, the renovated facility includes the Wendy and Wayne Holman Reading Room, which doubles as a multipurpose event space with movable furniture. The room accommodates a range of activities, including lecture-style events and open-space gatherings. It will also showcase the libraries’ historic collections. Similarly, the flexibly furnished Gershwind & Bennett Family Collaboration Classroom will host seminars, lecture-style presentations, and active, flipped-classroom style instruction.

The Judith and William Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab provide 3D printing and poster printing services, equipped with nine high-end 3D printers and two 3D scanners, a laser cutter, and plotters for scientific poster printing. The Anatomage Table—the first of its kind at Penn—is available for use by all members of the Penn community, allowing for the virtual dissection and review of life-size virtual cadavers outside of clinical lab coursework.

At the heart of the space are clusters of adaptable group workspaces. Various seating options encourage different formats of collaboration, and 20 group study rooms accommodate between four and eight people each. The group study rooms are acoustically treated, allowing students to work together freely without disrupting others, but are centrally located so that students can see others working.

Achieving all this required both completely transforming the interiors and making considered changes to the exteriors. Housed in a brick structure from the late 1960s, the original library was unassuming, with dark interiors that felt cut-off from Hamilton Walk.

The renovation changes that, replacing the brick facade with floor-to-ceiling windows at ground level. The new windows open the building to the campus, allowing passersby on Hamilton Walk to see inside and bringing natural light to the once-gloomy interiors. Reading areas and lounges for informal group work line the windows, offering daylit spaces with views out to campus. The new library more fully leverages its location at the intersection of several University programs —including the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Sciences, and Engineering—positioning Biotech Commons as a hub where scholars from these disciplines can exchange ideas.

The renovation was planned around the sensitive laboratory environments above and below Biotech Commons. The basement hosts a morgue and a Zebrafish laboratory—a space of floor-to-ceiling aquariums vulnerable to even minor sound vibrations. Above Biotech Commons are biomedical laboratories with specialized equipment served by glass pipes running through the building. VMA’s renovation took a surgical approach, reconfiguring the floor in the least invasive way possible and integrating new MEP systems without disturbing the sensitive surroundings.

Throughout, finishes were selected for durability, environmental friendliness, and ease-of-maintenance, lowering Biotech Commons’ lifecycle carbon footprint and operating costs. The building also hosts one of the first gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, advancing this university initiative.

VMA is a Philadelphia-based architecture firm whose work is founded on innovation within the context of tradition, a commitment to process, sustainability, and stewardship of the environment, and our focus on craftsmanship and beauty inform our work. Ever mindful of our stewardship of the built and natural environment we offer preservation services and all aspects of sustainable design.

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PHILADELPHIA — The New College House at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia emphasizes both living and learning, bringing together students, faculty and staff into a shared suite-style community. This living-learning community concept pairs perfectly with the facility’s open, transparent design that is on track to achieve at least LEED Silver.

The New College House opened in time for the 2016-17 academic year and has quickly become a major part of campus life with its prime location at one of the university’s entrances. The 198,000-square-foot, 350-bed building is the first new student residence built on the campus since 1972. It features comfortable student rooms collected in three- to six-person suites with access to study areas, a media center, open communal spaces, seminar rooms, a dining café and an enclosed courtyard. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) served as the architect on the project, while INTECH Construction was the construction manager — both of which are based locally.

“In this city of neighborhoods, we sought to embrace the many scales of community that define the collegiate experience unique to Penn,” said Frank Grauman, design principal with BCJ, in a statement. “The New College House is, therefore, both inviting and secure, open and private, embodying the comfort of home and the power to form a campus gateway worthy of this place.”

A Learning-Living Community

Purposely built as a learning-living community, the building functions to bring all members of the campus community together. That starts with everyone having the same entrance, which not only makes sense for security purposes, but also creates the community-centric idea that everyone comes home through the same front door.

“Student life and community connection is represented throughout New College House’s design: On the exterior, the scale of the building is balanced with the surrounding structures, while anchored as an inviting campus gateway,” said Sam McNutt, architect for BCJ, in a statement. “On the interior, common areas offer spaces for large group events while smaller, more intimate spaces allow for private study.”

The dining component includes a lot of amenity features that bring students together. In fact, there are two community kitchens — one of which is associated with a lounge — for students to reserve and cook in themselves. Along with the kitchen spaces and dining hall — designed to accommodate half of the building occupants in one seating — there are also a living room with a fireplace, a media room with a television, and music practice room available for students to mix and mingle.

Transparency & Sustainability

While the design of the new facility takes cues from some of the older campus buildings — integrating elements such as the Eero Saarinen-designed Hill College House’s brick and the law school’s limestone — it uses significantly more glass to bring in natural light and create transparency. A curtainwall, windows and sun shades from Wausau, Wis.-based Wausau Window and Wall Systems helped provide that necessary balance of natural light throughout the interiors.

As both INTECH and BCJ had worked with Wausau on other projects across UPenn’s campus, the two firms decided to again use the company to provide the curtainwall and window systems, this time in conjunction with Horsham, Pa.-based National Glass & Metal as the glazing contractor. This started the design-assist process, which allowed Wausau to work with the design team to get the desired look and specified performance, while keeping the window and curtainwall costs within budget and the project on schedule, said Steve Gille, east region market manager at Wausau Window and Wall Systems.

In addition to the use of these curtainwall, sun shade and window systems, New College House’s other sustainable design features include green roofs, low-flow plumbing fixtures, high-efficiency lighting fixtures and energy recovery units.

Read more about this project in the March/April issue of School Construction News.

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The new complex, which will be divided between North and South phases, will replace and improve the school’s existing sports facilities. The North phase will focus on the 90-year-old Savage Stadium where the existing grass football field will be replaced by a new turf field. Currently Oberlin is the last school in its division to play on natural turf, which poses problems in the wintertime.

North phase improvements will also include a state-of-the-art press box, improved grandstands and visitor seating, and new lighting. In addition, new home and visitor locker rooms will be added, as well as several meeting and social spaces that will be available to the campus community.

“The new North Complex will be very beneficial for our varsity athletes and our community at large,” said Oberlin President Martin Krislov. “The new field is a great opportunity to get more use out of our field and allow us to do things including community concerts and activities.”

According to Senior Associate Director of Athletics Creg Jantz, the new complex will also make a valuable impression on future Yeoman. “Prospective students will go home and say, ‘I was just at a football game at Oberlin College, and their new facilities are unbelievable.’ Now they will get excited after leaving Oberlin College.”

Work on the South Complex will follow the initial North phase, and will include a swimming pool renovation and the addition of a spacious health and wellness center. This facility in particular will house a fitness center, multipurpose room, athletic training spaces, a wellness classroom and several social and dining areas.

In a release, Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos said, “We are beyond grateful for the Knowlton Foundation’s vision and generosity. The complex will lend itself as a location to strengthen relationships and connect with the greater community. Without a doubt, it will represent the brilliance of Oberlin College as a whole.”

According to Winkelfoos, the new facility will also further support the college’s efforts to recruit top quality students. “I think that our coaches do a very good job right now…but it always helps to have nice facilities to showcase. This will only help us in attracting the best and the brightest,” said Winkelfoos.

Construction on the initial North Complex will likely be completed in the fall of 2014.

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