PSU Engineering Design and Innovation Building

Location: University Park, PA

Architect: Lamar Johnson Collaborative and Payette

Completion Date: 2023

Total Square Footage: 105,000 GSF

Program Components: Makerspaces, Machine Shops, Classrooms, Collaborative Design Laboratories, Department Suites, Faculty Offices, High Bay Engineering Shops, Design Studios, Collaborative Student Learning Spaces, Open Study Spaces

LEED Status: Tracking LEED Gold

Awards: AIA New England Design Awards, Citation; AIA St. Louis Architecture Design Award

Designed in collaboration with architecture firms, Payette and Lamar Johnson Collaborative, the Engineering Design and Innovation Building not only establishes a new vibrant west quad on Penn State’s campus, but it also allowed the university to reimagine their engineering school, serving as the new anchor point for the School of Engineering Design and Innovation (SEDI). The building brings multiply engineering programs together to create an epicenter for innovation maker spaces and student innovation, aptly coined ‘A Toolbox for Learning’. Spaces echoed this motto, creating an atmosphere of ‘learning on display.’ The building and space configuration and material selections allows a transparency to dynamically inspire and connect students starting from the outside to continue within.

The AIA 2030 challenge, PSU environmental campus benchmarks, and LEED target goals served as the baseline start to allow the team to create a design that exceeds these minimums to create a high performance building. Incorporating a triple-glaze timber curtain wall with a CLT structural floor deck significantly reduced the CO2 emissions and reduce, to eliminate, required perimeter heating and cooling. Specific Roof Monitor and glazing orientation reduced glare. 

The High Bay Lab features a 3-Story Tall 24” thick reinforced Strong wall that spans 30’ high. The long wall runs 60’ long and the short reaction wall is 23’ long. The wall is a structural feat as one of the largest continuous poured concrete walls and is the fourth wall of its kind in the US. The strong wall is set on a 24” thick reinforced concrete strong floor. It required a massive team effort to successfully achieve this accomplishment.