Nov 19 2012
Penn State's Board of Trustees Friday (Nov. 16) approved final plans and authorized the awarding of contracts for the construction of a new Health and Human Development Building on the University Park campus.
Included in the $58.5-million plan is a new 77,800-square-foot building to be constructed in much of the same area as the existing Henderson Building South. Approximately 35,000 square feet of Henderson Building South -- which contains classrooms and laboratory space -- will be retained and renovated, then joined to the new Health and Human Development Building. The facility is set to open in January 2015.
The Health and Human Development Building is the second and final phase of a plan to improve, expand and consolidate certain offices and facilities in the College of Health and Human Development along College Avenue between the Old Main and HUB-Robeson Center lawns. The building will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.
Construction is expected to begin in January 2013. The first phase of the project began in 2010, when work started on the Biobehavioral Health Building. Faculty and staff members are moving into that building this month.
"The new facility will advance our mission of improving lives through research, teaching and outreach," said Ann C. Crouter, Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development. "Its prominent location on campus -- along with the innovative, environmentally responsible design -- will be a welcoming presence on College Avenue and will help connect the college and the University to the State College community."
The main entrance, from Old Main lawn, will lead to an impressive atrium and central commons, lit with natural light let in by a glass wall facing College Avenue. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the building will be shared by the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS); the Methodology Center; and the Dean’s Office.
The ground level will have 31 research offices and four labs and observation rooms for HDFS, along with a 90-seat general classroom. HDFS will occupy 19 administrative and research offices on the first floor, which also will include two conference rooms, two graduate student office areas, an internship resource room and office support space. On the second floor, the department will have 32 faculty, research and graduate student offices along with a conference room, common area and various support spaces. The dean’s suite and administrative offices will occupy the third floor. The fourth floor will house the offices of the Methodology Center.
Improvements to the remaining wing of Henderson South will include new sprinklers and lights along with selective upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. The first phase, the $48.1-million Biobehavioral Health Building, created a new 93,500-sqaure-foot home to the Department of Biobehavioral Health, along with several research centers within the college.