KENNETT SQUARE, PA — The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has completed a $17 million academic building at its New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, adding the campus’s first dedicated classroom facility and new simulation capacity for large-animal veterinary training.
The 11,800-square-foot Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is expected to open for student use this fall, according to KSS Architects, which designed the project.
The building addresses what KSS described as a long-standing shortage of appropriately sized teaching and meeting space at New Bolton Center, Penn Vet’s large-animal hospital and campus.
The center is divided into two wings around an outdoor courtyard. One contains classrooms and informal learning areas, while the other houses a simulation laboratory equipped with high-fidelity veterinary simulators for large-animal training.
The configuration is intended to allow students to move between classroom instruction and simulated clinical work within the same facility.
“Our goal was to create an academic building that feels like it belongs in the agrarian landscape, one that supports hands-on, experiential learning while giving students and faculty a true sense of place,” Petar Mattioni, a partner at KSS Architects, said.
The design incorporates clerestory windows, natural materials and views of the surrounding farmland. Its forms and materials were selected to reflect the working-farm setting of New Bolton Center, according to KSS.
Andrew M. Hoffman, Penn Vet’s Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine, said during a ribbon-cutting that the center’s natural setting and outdoor spaces support the school’s educational approach.
“You need only experience the Riepe Center, inside and out, on such a beautiful day as today, to recognize that all of these elements have come together to Ben Franklin’s specifications,” Hoffman said.
KSS partners Mattioni and Mayva Donnon and principal Andy Sniderman led the project. The project team also included Ryan Dougherty, Jessica Mangin, Jesse Wilks, Elizabeth Heldridge and Michael Grauer.
MPP Engineers provided structural engineering, Trefz Engineering handled mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, and Pennoni provided civil engineering. Studio Sustena worked on landscape architecture, Wagner Architecture served as veterinary consultant, WSP handled information technology and security design, and Gardner/Fox was the contractor.
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