Upgrades at University of Pennsylvania will double size of 130-year-old facility for school of design

The University of Pennsylvania is renovating and expanding Stuart Weitzman Hall on its Philadelphia campus. 

The 130-year-old building, previously known as the Morgan building, was renamed for Weitzman earlier this year.

The upgrades will nearly double the building's size, to as much as 38,500 square feet, the university says in a news release. The renovated Stuart Weitzman Hall will provide a much-needed central space for students in the School of Design, officials say.

Completed in 1892, the building was constructed as an orphanage. It was acquired by Penn in 1899 and was subsequently named the Randall Morgan Laboratory of Physics. It housed the Physics Department for more than 50 years.

The renovation will redesign the building interior. An addition on the east side will feature an entrance foyer, a glass-walled exhibition gallery that opens to a covered outdoor patio, individual and multi-seat studios, large smart classrooms and critique spaces, and faculty offices.

It will also have research hubs for the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites and will house works on paper in the Penn Art Collection. 

A 3,000-square-foot studio on the third floor will showcase the original beamed ceiling and will open to the balcony.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2024 and be completed in 2025.

Kieran Timberlake is the architect.