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UPenn Announces Completion of New Veterinary Education Facility

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/10/26

Key Takeaways

  • The University of Pennsylvania completed the $17-million, 11,800-square-foot Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education at its New Bolton Center large-animal campus.
  • The facility includes dedicated classroom and informal learning spaces, a high-tech simulation laboratory, and an outdoor courtyard supporting hands-on veterinary education.
  • Designed by KSS Architects and built by Gardner/Fox, the center combines modern learning technology with natural materials and architectural forms that reflect the surrounding agrarian landscape.

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently finished construction on an 11,800-square-foot veterinary education building, according to a news release. The Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is the first dedicated classroom facility at the New Bolton Center, a large-animal hospital and campus about 35 miles west of the campus proper. The university partnered with KSS Architects for the project’s design, which cost about $17 million.

The facility has two wings, one for classroom and informal learning and study spaces, and the other featuring a high-tech simulation laboratory. Between them is an outdoor courtyard, while large windows provide views of the surrounding countryside.

"Our goal was to create an academic building that feels like it belongs in agrarian landscape, one that supports hands-on, experiential learning while giving students and faculty a true sense of place," said Petar Mattioni, AIA, LEED AP, KSS Architects Partner. "By organizing the building around an outdoor courtyard and bringing natural light and views of the farmland into every space, we created an environment where students can move seamlessly between simulation, instruction, and informal connection, all in service of preparing the next generation of large-animal veterinarians."

Design considerations included the threefold goals of “multimodal learning, engagement, and site sensitivity,” the news release reports. The natural building materials and vernacular forms echo the working-farm character of the surrounding campus while providing modern, technologically advanced systems and methods to care for large animals.

The university also partnered with Gardner/Fox as the project’s general contractor.

About the Author

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

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