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Penn State James Building
Project Information
- Project Location:
- State College, PA
- Status:
- Completed
- Structure Type:
- School / College / University
References
- Architect:
- KieranTimberlake
- Client:
- Penn State University
Scope Of Work
LF Driscoll teamed up with Pennsylvania’s largest university, Penn State University, to continue with the institute’s 2015 launch of Invent Penn State. In conjunction with the launch, the project team replaced the former James Building in downtown State College with a technology-focused entrepreneurial hub for students and local start-ups to collaborate and advance their ideas.
The new six-story building provides 85,000sf of space to tenants in the form of classrooms, offices, open collaboration spaces, and a multi-purpose event space. The first two floors provide task-specific fabrication shops for users to utilize 3D-printing, micro electronics assembly, welding, wood-working and painting booths. Site logistics and planning took some creativity and early coordination with the local Borough and neighbors to erect the new building in such a dense urban environment.
Continuing the project theme of collaboration, the project was executed with the concept of “IPD lite”, wherein the project team employs lean techniques typically associated with integrated project delivery (IPD) to add value to the overall project. Early cluster meetings allowed sub-teams to focus on critical deliverables, utilizing the PSU facilities at the ICON lab to review the design in a virtual 3D environment. Prevention Through Design assisted in avoiding late breaking changes due to maintenance and operations concerns and LF Driscoll experience with the Target Value Delivery approach kept the team focused on solutions within budget.
