University of Pennsylvania Opens Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science & Technology

The University of Pennsylvania opened the $173 million Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science & Technology in December of 2024 in Philadelphia. Designed by Behnisch Architekten, the seven-story building accommodates the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), an undergraduate dual-degree initiative run jointly by the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The 173,000-sf structure features leading-edge research environments for high-performance optics, wet chemistry, and NMR spectrometry, as well as support spaces, write-up areas, and faculty and administrative offices. With strategically placed collaboration hubs and shared instrumentation suites, the inclusive facility employs universal design principles to allow people of all physical abilities to contribute their expertise to the creation of new solutions for energy generation, storage, and management.

Sophisticated strategies for the mitigation of vibration and electromagnetic interference were implemented to address an active rail line that borders the urban site, which spans several grade changes. Targeting LEED Platinum certification, the all-electric development utilizes radiant heating and cooling technologies to enable a layout that maximizes efficiency. An iconic exterior curtainwall with ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) shading acts as a functional component of the project's HVAC operations. Energy recovery units capture heat gain from lab spaces as part of a robust system that both re-tempers supply air and eliminates ducted returns entirely.

LF Driscoll served as construction manager and STO Building Group was the general contractor, with groundbreaking in March of 2022. Engineering partners included van Zelm Heywood & Shadford, knippershelbig, Transsolar, and Acentech.