Design Profile: Penn Engineering, Amy Gutmann Hall, Data Science & AI Building

Amy Gutmann Hall embodies a forward-thinking architectural response to the evolving needs of interdisciplinary research. The new home of University of Pennsylvania Engineering's data science and artificial intelligence programs was designed by Lake|Flato with KSS Architects. The six-story, 116,000-square-foot facility is the tallest mass timber academic building on the East Coast. Glass plays a central role in the building's identity, offering clarity, connection, and comfort, serving as both a high-performance skin and a conceptual framework for openness, collaboration, and wellness. The building's façade features a custom fritted curtain wall developed in collaboration with Andrew Kudless of Matsys Design. The biomorphic pattern, inspired by computer circuitry, wood grain structure and other natural patterns, was developed via a computational design process. The design combines the frit pattern with undulating vertical fins to mediate daylight while animating the timber structure beyond. Inside, glass is deployed to foster visibility, shaping environments that are simultaneously connected and contemplative. Smoked glass delineates spaces for focused work, its dual function as writable surface supporting dynamic collaboration. Skylights and carefully placed openings ensure generous daylight penetration, contributing to occupant well-being and reinforcing the project's biophilic ethos. More than 77 percent of regularly occupied areas maintain views to nature. In Amy Gutmann Hall, glass is not simply a material of enclosure — it is a medium of exchange: between disciplines, and between occupants and their environment.  

Project: Penn Engineering, Amy Gutmann Hall, Data Science & AI Building 

Location: University City, Philadelphia    

Client: University of Pennsylvania   

Project Size: 116,000 square feet 

Project Team:  

KSS Architects (Architecture, Furniture Design)  

Lake Flato Architects (Design Architecture) 

LF + KSS (Interior Design) 

Ground Control (Landscape Architecture)  

Buro Happold (Structural Engineering, Electrical Engineering  & Lighting Design) 

Katelyn Sinon (Engineering)  

Pennoni Associates, Inc. (Civil Engineering)  

Metropolitan Acoustics (Acoustics Design)  

Cenero (AV/IT)  

Cloud Gehshan (Signage/Wayfinding) 

RWDI Consulting Engineers & Scientists (Facade Consulting)  

Gilbane Building Company (General Contracting) 

National Glass and Metal Company, Inc. (Glazing Contracting and Facade Installation) 

PHOTOS: JEFFREY TOTARO