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Facilities and Real Estate Services
Facilities and Real Estate Services
3101, Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Facilities and Real Estate Services
3101, Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
The University of Pennsylvania has identified that their potential for long term campus growth is eastward several blocks to the edge of the Schuylkill River, linking with downtown Philadelphia on the opposite bank. Presently, this area is an aging industrial edge zone with buildings and spaces that have exciting potential for development strategies.A vast food distribution warehouse constructed in 1929 for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and later used by General Electric for specialty manufacturing, was available for conversion for University use. The site stands at a prominent location on Walnut Street, the central axis of the Penn campus.Firm ResponsibilitiesMGA Partners was commissioned for two projects to complete this University initiative.Design SolutionsThe Precinct Plan addresses campus expansion to the east and the development of a new open space that extends the character of the existing campus landscape environment. The Plan recovers lost urban space, relocates parking, and establishes a University service zone. This infrastructure solidifies opportunities for future development.The warehouse is the pilot project for the eastward expansion of the University. The upper floors are converted to apartments and retail and the vast ‘Track Level’ where freight trains used to unload is adapted to relocate three University programs: Campus Maintenance, the Operations Control Center and the offices for the Department of Facilities Services. In addition, the project includes a new University Children’s Center and Center for Technology Transfer.The design responds to the industrial character of the warehouse. Remnants from the previous owners, including varied mezzanines and heavy equipment artifacts such as cranes and tracks, become an important component of the architectural approach. A new two-story ‘Headhouse’ provides a public identity and presence for the new occupants, visible both from Chestnut and Walnut Streets. A primary design objective was to create a work environment that encourages teamwork and enthusiasm while having flexibility and character. The new lobby is a large industrial space converted to become a gallery of University construction projects and exhibit of historic campus architecture. “Good Design is Good Business,” Business Week/Architectural Record; 2002Award for Design Excellence, Philadelphia AIA; 2001Honor Award for Design Excellence, Pennsylvania AIA; 2001Architectural Record, November 2002Business Week Magazine, November 2002Philadelphia Inquirer, February 2002BOOM Exhibit: New Architecture in Philadelphia; 2006
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