Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to design another Penn college house

Fresh off its completion of the New College House, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson will design the next dorm for Penn’s campus, New College House West.

Penn announced Thursday that the university’s board of trustees has approved the design firm’s plans for a $163 million college house at 40th Street, Walnut Street, and Locust Walk. It will be adjacent to the West Philadelphia branch of the Free Library.

Penn president Amy Gutman said New College House West will serve as a western gateway to the campus, as well as help house more students on campus. “New College House West will enable more Penn students to participate in the College House system, and it will also give us the capacity and flexibility to continue renovating existing student housing.”

Penn’s college house system is unique in that it houses both undergrads, graduate students, and faculty in one community. It currently has 12 college houses, with the New College House being its most recent project built from the ground up. The university also reopened this fall the Hill College House, designed by Eero Saarinen, after it underwent a $80 million renovation.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s design harkens to its New College House, and it will also aim for LEED Silver certification. The 250,000-square-foot building will feature a north tower on Walnut, with two shorter wings to the east and west of it that reach Locust Walk.

The New College House West will be a three-year college house with 450 beds for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. There will be six- and five-bedroom, two-bath suites, and four-, three-, and two-bedroom, one-bath suites. And like the other college houses, there will be collaborative spaces like study rooms, lounges, and music rooms.

The goal is to break ground in spring 2018 and open in fall 2021.