Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Penn State Unveils New Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building

  • By Matt Jones
  • 12/07/21

Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa., recently celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new academic building on its campus. University officials, students, faculty and staff gathered on Wednesday, Dec. 1, to commemorate the opening of the new Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building.

The facility measures in at 105,000 square feet and cost about $98.5 million. In addition to instructional spaces and research labs, it also plays home to the administrative offices of the Department of Animal Science and the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. According to a news release, the project took about two years to complete. The university partnered with architecture firm HOK and Turner Construction.

"Our institution was founded to use education and research to advance the agricultural industry," said Penn State President Eric Barron at the ceremony. “Today, Penn State is one of the most respected integrated academic and outreach units of its kind in American higher education, and the College of Ag Sciences is at the forefront of research and educational programs that are vital to our economy, health and national security.”

The facility contains amenities like a vivarium (a type of terrarium for small animals), a general-purpose classroom with capacity for 100 students, a seminar room with capacity for just under 50, and a variety of collaboration zones to encourage cross-departmental interaction.

Rick Roush, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, spoke of the new facility’s importance to the 3,000 undergraduates and 450 graduate students enrolled in the college. “Animal production is the largest sector of Pennsylvania agriculture,” said Roush. “More than 80,000 jobs—29% of agricultural employment—are directly involved in animal production and the crop production that supports it, providing more than $9 billion to the Pennsylvania economy—and growing. The departments of Animal Science and Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences are major contributors to success.”

The new facility replaces the former Henning Building, whose outdated design and failing infrastructure was proving detrimental to research and retaining faculty, according to a news release.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Nashville Elementary School Receives LEED Gold Certification

    Goodlettsville Elementary School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tenn., recently achieved LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to a news release. The 81,750-square-foot school opened in 2023 and was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC).

  • Building Beyond Simulation: Creating Immersive Ecosystems for Healthcare Education

    Health sciences education is one of the fastest-growing facility types in colleges and universities. The demand for medical, nursing, and allied health professionals is driving the creation and renovation of medical simulation training facilities that provide students with real-world experience through advanced simulation-based learning.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.