Smeal College of Business | Tradeline, Inc.

While traditional business school curricula focuses on finance, marketing, and other core disciplines—with little emphasis on the ability to communicate, work as a team or thinking inventively—Penn State has adopted a strategy encouraging collaboration and connectivity to meet the complex demands of the interactive 21st Century. The 210,000-sf Smeal College of Business is intended to stimulate this need for cultural change; its open layout encouraging a free, frequent flow of ideas among students and faculty.

Composed of two four-story volumes, housing both the undergraduate and MBA programs respectively, the two masses are unified both functionally and architecturally by the lobby and atrium. The atrium provides an informal seating area for 80 people that can be converted to 400 seats for events. With a four-story high window wall and stair and elevator access for all four floors, it is no wonder why the atrium acts as the school’s central gathering place. To the right of the atrium is entry to the café, which can seat more than 100 and offers a wide range of food as well as access to the terrace. Beyond the cafe lie the MBA classroom wing and the MBA Commons. The Commons features a professional atmosphere, with wired tables to facilitate group discussions, while the MBA classrooms are outfitted with the most up-to-date display technology. On the other side of the atrium are seven undergraduate classrooms, ranging in size from 25-persons seminar rooms to 60-persons tiered Socratic classrooms, as well as an undergraduate Commons. The final highlight to the first floor is the 150-seat state-of-the-art auditorium which is overlooked by Smeal’s specialized instructional labs located on the second floor.

The second floor continues this dichotomy of undergraduate and MBA spaces, each with its own separate wing, though connected by a bridge suspended above the atrium and lobby. The second floor also plays host to a number of labs, including the Behavioral & e-Business lab, the Supply Chain lab, as well as the Dinner Theater lab. The remaining space is occupied by the Dean’s Suite, Human Resources, and Alumni, Media, Development and Marketing Relations.

All faculty and doctorial offices, along with department offices and research centers are located on the third and fourth floors. With each wing preceded by an informal gathering space, the design allows for maximum openness and flow, while still providing the necessary privacy. The third floor also has a large landscaped outdoor terrace that sits above the lobby.

Nine undergraduate classrooms accompany IT support and the mechanical infrastructure on the lower level, below the first floor.

Project Information

Building Owner:

Pennsylvania State University

Building Location:

State College, Pennsylvania UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Specialized classrooms

Project Delivery Method:

Construction Management

Project Timeline

Jul 2003	Construction Start
Jul 2005	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$45,700,000

Construction Cost:

$43,623,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$205

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Atrium
Education
Education: Classroom
Education: Faculty Office
Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall

Total GSF:

210,000

Project Team

Architect

Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Architect

Bower Lewis Thrower/Architects

Builder

Gilbane Building Company

Consultant

Shen, Milson & Wilke Associates

Consultant - Audio Visual

Sage Technologies

Engineer - Electrical

BR+A/Bard,Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers Inc.

Engineer - Mechanical

BR+A/Bard,Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers Inc.

Engineer - Structural

Keast & Hood

Landscape Architect

Lager Raabe Skafte

Supplier - Concrete

Iondia

Supplier - Curtainwall

DM Products Inc.

Supplier - Drywall

Novinger's Inc.

Supplier - Electrical

Leer Electric

Supplier - Elevators

Eastern Elevator Co.

Supplier - Fire Protection

S.A. Comunale

Supplier - Flooring

Re-Source PA

Supplier - Masonry

Wyatt Inc.

Supplier - Masonry

Harris Masonry

Supplier - Mechanical

Bryan Mechanical

Supplier - Millwork

Parisi Royal

Supplier - Paint

Advanced Painting

Supplier - Piles

Moore Concrete Pumping

Supplier - Roofing

Marcon Roofing

Supplier - Signage

Bunting Graphics Inc.

Supplier - Steel

Ohio Steel Industries

Supplier - Terrazzo

Roman Mosaic and Tile

Supplier - Terrazzo

Colucci Tile and Stone

Telecommunications Engineer

Dagostino Electronic Services

Profile Created 12/05/2007

Last Updated 05/19/2008

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Atrium