News

SaylorGregg Architects announced that projects it has designed for the University of Pennsylvania, Wilkes University, Franklin Institute, Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts are currently under construction.

“In the past few years many projects were put on hold, particularly those for cultural institutions,” said Peter Saylor, FAIA, principal of SaylorGregg Architects. “But these projects are going up quickly, some on a fast-track schedule, and I believe that it is representative of the rebounding economy.”

The projects include a free-standing new building, renovations and additions to existing facilities:

University of Pennsylvania

This renovation, restoration and expansion of the Arts, Research and Culture House at 36th & Locust Walk, will create a center for cultivating community and enhancing student life. A landmark structure originally built in 1928 for the Christian Association, the building houses cultural groups that will receive larger, modernized spaces: La Casa Latina, Makuu: the Black Cultural Center, the Pan-Asian American Community House; and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The expansion will include an outdoor terrace on Locust Walk, an indoor café with lounge seating and gallery space, and a common living room. The renovation includes a technological upgrade of the second floor auditorium that accommodates 150 flexible seats for lectures, recitals and other programs. Construction will be complete in 2014 and is targeted for LEED Silver.

Wilkes University

The new $35 million science building for this Wilkes-Barre, PA university will house the departments of Biology & Health Sciences; Chemistry & Biochemistry; and Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences. This four-story, 72,500 sf structure has teaching labs on the 2nd and 4th floors, and research labs on the 3rd. Lounges at the end of each corridor encourage informal interaction and have views onto the main campus green. The roof is accessible by elevator and will feature a greenhouse, astronomy terrace, experimentation platform, and green roof. Nalls Architecture, Inc. provided consulting services for the lab room environments. Targeted for LEED Silver, construction will be complete in 2013.

The Franklin Institute

Philadelphia’s venerable science museum is getting a 53,000 sf addition to its 1933 Beaux Arts home. The Nicholas & Athena Karabots Pavilion will house a permanent exhibition on the Brain, space for large traveling shows like King Tut and Titanic, education and conference rooms, and basement storage for the immense collection. The project anticipates LEED Silver certification, and features an integrated rain garden below the projecting bay, which will be clad in a stainless steel kinetic “shimmer wall” by artist Ned Kahn. Construction will be complete in late 2013.

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

After finalizing the facilities master plan for the revered natural history museum, SaylorGregg commenced with Phase 1 of the plan by completing renovations to the Main Lobby and the Group Lobby. Upgrades were made to all finishes and identity improvement utilizing exhibits of collection specimens and super graphics. Museum-quality compact storage and climate control upgrades are currently being installed for the preservation of specimens in the Entomology collection.

Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts

The new Collections Resource Center will be a two-story, 5,000 sf addition to this historic house museum in Bethlehem. The addition will accommodate the most sensitive artifacts in the 60,000-piece Historic Bethlehem Partnership collection of toys, glass, china, textiles and furniture from Pennsylvania German Victoriana, as well as a world-renowned collection of 50 international dollhouses. The addition will include a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that allows the public to more easily view the open storage collections. Researchers and guests will also have increased access. Construction will be complete in Spring 2013.

“These clients are some of the most interesting, dedicated people on the planet,” said Bill Gregg, AIA, principal of SaylorGregg. “The firm is having extraordinary exposure to a high plane of intellectual leadership, which can only serve to inform future projects.”