Penn State School of Engineering Design and Innovation

School of Engineering Design and Innovation: Translating vision into reality as the project’s Executive Architect. Partnered with Payette, LJC is responsible for detailing and executing the building envelope, leading the interior design, and defining the landscape architecture.

Penn State University’s (PSU) School of Engineering Design and Innovation facility, an anchor for a re-imagined West Quadrangle on the University Park campus, will bring together multiple engineering programs, including SEDTAPP, the Learning Factory, the Factory for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) Lab, and High Bay research. The goal is to create a single programmatic magnet for research, making, testing, and prototyping from a wide range of disciplines to become the innovation and making hub of engineering. Emphasis is on integrating active learning by putting it on display and creating an iconic building that will become the visitor’s and prospective student’s introduction to engineering design and innovation. Collaborating with PSU’s leadership and Payette, the team delivers a space with flexible classrooms, multi-use design studios, maker spaces, high-bay research labs, faculty offices, and research cores to benefit multiple engineering disciplines.

Landscape Architecture

The link between the COE Research & Teaching Space 2 building and the quad is the landscape. LJC’s landscape architecture team is reimagining the 15-acre quad to reflect PSU’s incredible legacy landscapes. The strategy begins with enhancing pedestrian circulation throughout the West Campus. It aims to create a safe and secure campus with useful, meaningful, and branded exterior spaces that encourage students to utilize the outdoors through various plant materials, colors, textures, and seasonal interests. Creating opportunities for students and faculty to collide, mix, and share ideas and enrich the COE culture. All improvements intend to create great and memorable user experiences.