University of Pennsylvania
Graduate School of Education

The renovation, expansion, and connection of two 1960’s buildings create a new home for the Graduate School of Education, centralizing spaces for students and faculty previously located both on and off-campus. A new entrance and lobby join the two existing buildings, thereby creating a vibrant new culture through joined space, and giving the top-ranked GSE a prominent face on campus.

The double-height lobby navigates a full-story change in grade across the building site with a gathering stair that encourages impromptu meetings and conversation. A four-story addition to the east provides much-needed student space and work areas, and a two-story addition to the west contains classrooms and a global education innovation lab and makerspace for the GSE’s Catalyst Program.

The additions are clad with aluminum and glass curtain wall and terra cotta fins, completing the quadrangle of existing buildings. An exterior courtyard behind the two buildings is made accessible and enhanced with landscaped seating areas as a gathering place for the GSE.