Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the creation of a unified 6-story academic building at the University of Pennsylvania. The project includes renovation of the existing 54,440SF West Philadelphia Title and Trust Co. building built in 1925 and the construction of a new 56,700SF addition to the north. ..

Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the creation of a unified 6-story academic building at the University of Pennsylvania. The project includes renovation of the existing 54,440SF West Philadelphia Title and Trust Co. building built in 1925 and the construction of a new 56,700SF addition to the north.

The addition includes a 120-seat auditorium, classroom space, faculty offices, collaboration areas, and computing rooms. Project highlights include: A 30-foot cantilevering feature stair, comprised of architecturally exposed structural steel that connects three floors; Retention and supplementation of the existing building’s structure; Story high transfer trusses that support four floors above and one floor below to enable an unobstructed lower level auditorium; Thin, flat-plate floors that align with the existing building’s floor elevations for seamless transitions between the two structures. LEED Silver certification is anticipated.

CLIENT: Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA

TYPE: Academic, SERVICES: Addition, Renovation, MATERIALS: SUSTAINABILITY: LEED, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Final Photography © Adrien Williams