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
Builder		Gilbane Building Company
Supplier - Concrete		Iondia
Supplier - Curtainwall		DM Products Inc.
Supplier - Drywall		Novinger's Inc.
Supplier - Flooring		Re-Source PA
Supplier - Masonry		Harris Masonry
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.