University of Pennsylvania, Amy Gutmann Hall

The University of Pennsylvania Amy Gutmann Hall, housing the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences' Data Science research and academic programs, will be a vibrant and welcoming hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations focused on harnessing the power of data. As the future home of all Data Science academic and research programs, the new building will centralize resources that will advance the work of scholars across a wide variety of fields making the tools and concepts of data analysis more accessible to the university community.

The 6-story facility houses 3 floors of teaching labs, Active Learning Classrooms and collaboration spaces, and 3 floors of Research Centers organized around appropriately scaled neighborhoods that promote flexibility and connectivity. The ground floor serves as the home for Data Science with a gracious Student Commons, a quiet Reading Room, small honest café, collaboration spaces and a Large Lecture Hall. To welcome researchers from across campus and the private sector, a Data Science Hub on the 3rd floor creates a welcoming environment for cross disciplinary collaborations and student events.

Aspirations established during the integrated design workshop focus on creating an environment that connects occupants, who work in a digital world, back to the natural environment. The building maximizes daylight and views, integrates ecological environments into interior spaces, and incorporates sensory stimuli that encourage collaborative social behavior and comfort. To that end, the SEAS Data Science will be Penn and Philadelphia’s first Mass Timber building, and at 6 stories tall, it will one of the tallest Mass Timber structures in the region. The system both reduces the building’s carbon footprint by 52% relative to concrete and 41% relative to steel as well as contributing to a warm, tactile and welcoming environment.