Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

UPenn Library Transforms into High-Tech Hub

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/31/21

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa., is in the process of revamping its outdated biomedical library into what a press release calls “an open center for cross-disciplinary learning, prototyping, and collaboration.” The university is working with Voith and Mactavish Architects LLP (VMA) to finish the renovations by June 2021 and open the building to students for the fall 2021 academic semester.

The new library space, the Biotech Commons, trades stacks of dusty bookshelves and abandoned cubicles for more modern research tools including tech-integrated conference spaces, a digital fabrication lab with 3D printers, and collaboration classrooms with movable furniture. The library’s location among several university schools (like the schools of nursing, sciences, medicine, and engineering) gives it the ideal opportunity to serve students all over campus, no matter their needs or area of study.

University of Pennsylvania Biotech Commons

“The idea of a library as a quiet, formal space for reference is out-of-step with the future of learning,” said Sennah Loftus, VMA associate principal and the project’s lead designer. “We thought of Biotech Commons as a hub—a truly active place where engineers can come in and talk with the Medical Group over lunch, or industry leaders can meet with students to prototype a new idea together in the fabrication lab.”

Any enrolled student at the school is free to reserve any of the facility’s workspaces, from study rooms to the fabrication shop. The library also doesn’t require a student ID to enter the building, making it accessible to business professionals and the community at large.

Other renovations to the building include replacing its brick façade with floor-to-ceiling windows, opening the once-dark and dingy ground-level lobby to natural light. Both public and private group workspaces are scattered throughout the building, making impromptu meetings or study sessions as easy as finding a place to sit down. A large reading room can be converted into a gathering space that can accommodate up to 80 people.

The building was also designed with durability, ease-of-maintenance, and environmental friendliness in mind with the goal of lowering the facility’s carbon footprint—and its operating costs.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Launches New Emergency Communications System

    The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) recently deployed a new emergency notification and incident management system for its campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with 911Cellular to launch Safe@UTC, a smartphone app allowing university officials to communicate and respond during emergency situations.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.