September 14, 2016
Source/Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Rendering of the New College House, the University of Pennsylvania's newest undergraduate residential community at 34th and Chestnut Streets.
The University of Pennsylvania held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for its first new residential structure since 1972, launching the New College House as a hall dedicated to global citizenship and the "Life of the Mind."
Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the seven-story structure at 34th and Chestnut streets opened its doors to 350 students last month and is comprised primarily of single-student rooms in multiple bedroom suites.
Joined by residents and guests, University of Pennsylvania President Amy Guttman celebrated the school's first purpose-built facility within the College House system, a unified group of 11 residential communities established in 1998. A little more than half of Penn's undergraduates reside in these communities, each of which has administrative designees and hosts a range of cultural, academic and recreational events.
“Penn is a university of firsts,” Gutmann said. “We are here today to celebrate you: students who are now members of this unique place and this great tradition. Now and forever more, you will be able to point to this amazing building and say, ‘I lived there first.’”
Funded through gifts from emeritus alumnus and trustee Stephen Heyman, the $127 million facility features a brick and limestone facade, vertical glass towers, a green roof, and sustainable materials targeting a LEED certification of Silver or greater. Dining chairs in the student suites were fabricated in Pennsylvania out of 20,000 discarded soda bottles.
“The concept of the building and what we’re trying to do with the community here are totally in synch with each other," said Cam Grey, Faculty Director of the New College House. "Landscape architect Michael Vergason deliberately designed the lifted lawn to be embracing the city of Philadelphia. It was actually designed to have its arms open, beckoning and gesturing, grabbing hold of the rest of the city.”
Programming at the new residence will aim to foster a multidisciplinary engagement with the rest of Philadelphia through service-learning projects and academic exploration.
