Throughout their time at Penn, the Class of 2023 will experience a constantly changing campus. Incoming freshmen will witness a barrage of new buildings and renovations of popular campus spaces.
The current lineup of projects includes two new Wharton buildings, a Penn Medicine facility, and a new residence hall.
Wharton Academic Research Building
The Wharton Academic Research Building is set to finish construction by the summer of 2020. The new building, which will serve as a hub for Wharton on 37th and Spruce streets, will house additional research centers, conference rooms, classrooms, and study rooms.
The five story building will be connected to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, another Wharton building, and will include a new electrical substation, enclosed loading dock, and bicycle rack. The project, which initially requested $60 million for construction, will now cost about $87.65 million.
Tangen Hall
The second Wharton facility to be completed is Tangen Hall, which is expected to be finished in the fall of 2020. The seven story project will cost about $46.5 million and house staff from the Wharton Small Business Development and Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship programs.
The building, located at the intersection of 40th and Sansom streets, will have spaces to promote student-led projects and collaboration between Wharton, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Weitzman School of Design. Construction began in May 2019.
New College House West
Located on 40th and Walnut streets, New College House West will cost $163 million, a record-breaking figure for Penn. The building will house 450 students and will be open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Construction began in December 2018 and is expected to be completed in summer 2021. By the time the building opens, the new housing policy requiring sophomores to live on campus will be put in place.
Penn Medicine Pavilion
The Penn Medicine Pavilion is Philadelphia's most "ambitious health care building project" with a budget of $1.5 billion. The new pavilion will house inpatient care for heart and vascular medicine and surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, as well as the Abramson Cancer Center and a new emergency department. The project is slated to be finished by spring 2021.
Ongoing and future renovations
Incoming freshmen may also get to see the renovation of the Quad, which is slated to be complete in the next five to seven years. The design for the renovation is expected to be finalized by the summer of 2021, when New College House West construction is finished. The Quad renovation will also mark the beginning of a series of dorm renovations across campus.
The Penn Museum is expected to complete its Coxe Harrison Renovation by this fall, which will renovate the first two floors of the Harrison wing and will add to the three floors of the Coxe wing. Accessibility and restroom accommodations will be updated as well under the project’s $21.9 million budget.
In August, the Ringe squash courts will also have finished their renovations, which include an increase in the number of squash rooms with two new exhibition courts, a hall of fame, and improvements to spectator seating for matches. The renovations have a budget of $18.7 million.
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