Penn State Lehigh Valley: Campus Expansion

Project Description

The expansion to the existing Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus building features a full-service cafeteria on the first floor, a student programming space on the second floor, and a new STEM wing on the third floor.  Through the planning process, programs within the new and existing building were grouped to benefit user workflow. On the exterior the expansion exhibits a dynamic and contemporary roadside presence while working within the vocabulary of the existing materials.

Project Details

Despite the increase in campus size during 2010, programs within the existing Penn State Lehigh Valley building were extremely limited for its growing population of commuter students.

SFA worked with PSU LV to design an expansion to the existing campus building, which features a full-service cafeteria on the first floor,  a Student Game Room, faculty offices and collaborative student gathering spaces on the second floor, and a new STEM wing on the third floor (comprised by an organic…

Despite the increase in campus size during 2010, programs within the existing Penn State Lehigh Valley building were extremely limited for its growing population of commuter students.

SFA worked with PSU LV to design an expansion to the existing campus building, which features a full-service cafeteria on the first floor,  a Student Game Room, faculty offices and collaborative student gathering spaces on the second floor, and a new STEM wing on the third floor (comprised by an organic chemistry laboratory, prep rooms, equipment rooms, classrooms, and offices).Through the planning process, programs within the new and existing building were grouped to benefit user workflow.

Locating the addition to the north of the existing building separated the loading docks from the public and exhibited high visibility of the transparent spaces from the roadside. Inversely the views out of the building capture the adjacent landscape, sports fields, and forests. The outdoor space surrounding the first floor dining is both visibly and physically accessible. The connection to the existing building lobby provides convenient entries to the new spaces. Noise from this two story space is buffered from  the classrooms by casework, tutoring offices and prep spaces.

The contemporary presence of the exterior contrasts the monotonous bands of existing ribbon windows while working within the constraints of the existing material vocabulary. The glazing is a colorful reinterpretation of the dull existing hue that characterizes the building with differing levels of transparency to create a dynamic shift of visibility and light from day to night.