Ceramics past and future

The new volume adjoining the University of Pennsylvania’s historic Wharton School of Business building provided a chance to redesign the public areas and create new teaching spaces. Active learning classrooms, seminar rooms and group study areas now sit alongside informal lounges and meeting points overlooking the campus and a large central atrium. These spaces are designed to encourage collaborative and social learning while also serving as venues for evening events.

The project won the “Non-Residential” category in the Tile Competition organised by Confindustria Ceramica with the support of the Italian Trade Agency ITA. Held every two years, the competition celebrates outstanding European and North American projects that make exemplary use of Italian ceramic tiles.

The 6,800-square-metre Academic Research Building occupies one of the last developable plots on the main campus, in a prominent location on Spruce Street opposite the Gothic towers of the historic student residences. Its highly visible position in the public spaces of the campus reflects the vision of Daniel Kelley, senior partner at MGA Partners, who wanted the new building to play a central role in the university’s urban fabric.

The building’s distinctive form maintains a sense of continuity with the architectural style and materials of the existing buildings, including those dating from the 1960s, while achieving the environmental performance required for LEED Gold certification.

Its continuous façade is a sophisticated system designed to balance energy efficiency with comfort in both the academic offices and public spaces.

The ventilated façade, created using Florim’s Sistema S4 mechanical anchoring system, alternates opaque and transparent surfaces to control solar gain and glare while maximising the presence of natural light.

“We chose anthracite-effect large-format porcelain panels for the envelope, specifically the Burnished colour version from Florim’s Metal collection in a 12 mm thickness, to coordinate with the slate roofs of the historic campus buildings,” explains Kelley. “The same panels were used inside to ensure material continuity and to give character and durability to spaces that will be used daily by students and lecturers.”

The Buildtech/2.0 collection in a 10 mm thickness, with its concrete-inspired look and saturated colours, was used in the entrance lobby. The Metal Burnished panels, again in a 12 mm thickness, continue on the lobby walls and elsewhere on campus, extending the contemporary feel of the street façades into the interior.

A dramatic cantilevered spiral staircase in the central hall connects the entrance lobby with the two upper floors, sharing the space with the Wharton campus courtyard. This visually-striking architectural feature is clad with large-format custom-made white panels with a surface inspired by Northern European slate.