Tangen Hall
The University of Pennsylvania
A Toolbox For The University
Tangen Hall
The University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
68,350 SF
LEED Silver
the opportunity
Tangen Hall is Penn’s first dedicated space for cross-curricular student entrepreneurship and innovation. The building is home to programs for the Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and the Weitzman School of Design, in addition to the new Venture Lab, a launch pad for commercializing student ideas across all 12 of Penn’s schools.
our approach
The design focuses on fluid interaction at various scales, from large-scale collaborations at the ground-floor maker lab to cross-disciplinary team workshops on the upper floors. Each floor is branded by a destination program that acts as a magnet, drawing people vertically through the building. Tangen Hall’s simple utilitarian framework and infrastructure allows for inevitable programmatic evolution and flexibility. Systems are fed from the top down to facilitate easy reconfiguration of interior spaces and give user groups the ability to modify their space in tune with their fluctuating spatial requirements.
Our Process
Program
Makerspace, test kitchen, colloquium hall, retail pod, team room, seminar rooms, coworking space, rentable pods, open studios, advanced equipment lab, integrated product design
Amy Gutmann
We want our buildings to be signature buildings and basically shout that the University of Pennsylvania designs buildings really worth looking at. Because it [Tangen Hall] has a very special function, we don’t want to look like the other institutions.
President of the University of Pennsylvania (2004 to 2022)
Featured Articles
Tangen Hall brings together aspiring entrepreneurs across the University, Penn Today
Rise of Tech Spurs Business Schools to Focus on Entrepreneurship, Bloomberg Businessweek
New campus buildings to house centers for innovation and collaboration, Penn Today
Precast Concrete’s Versatility, Ascent Magazine
Design for new Tangen Hall offers game-changing student entrepreneurship space, Penn Today
Here’s what Wharton’s massive startup hub will look like, Technical.ly Philadelphia
Institutional Resilience: Cross-Disciplinary Innovation, Entrepreneurship, & Change Management, KSS Architects
