$33M Law building on the way

In fewer than three years, the Law School’s Pepper Hall will be replaced by a new, larger building, the University announced at last week’s trustees meetings.

According to Dean Michael Fitts, the Sansom Street building will complete a 10-year process of renovation and rebuilding. He added that it is an “incredible statement” about Penn Law alumni that the school can proceed with new construction “at a time like this.”

Design and construction are estimated to total $33.6 million, half of which has been promised in signed gift agreements, according to Mark Winkelman, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee.

Construction plans were driven largely by space issues, which have until now been addressed by renovating existing buildings, resulting from Penn Law’s expansion of its academic programs.

“Over the last 10 years, we have greatly expanded our academic programs,” Fitts said. “The nature of classes have changed in that they are now much more interdisciplinary, and there are more classes and smaller classes, but the physical footprint of the Law School has stayed the same.”

The school intends to demolish the 11,000-square-foot Pepper Hall and replace it with the new building, which will occupy about 45,000 square feet.

After a two-round competition, Penn Law decided to employ the services of Boston-based firm Kennedy & Violich Architecture.

Architect Sheila Kennedy said the new building will be organized to preserve the courtyard in the middle of the Law School. On one side, it will complement the Georgian architecture of Silverman Hall.

Kennedy elaborated that the Silverman Hall side of the new building will be taller and “more like the ‘palazzo’ of Silverman,” observing that as of now the “grandeur of Silverman Hall is interrupted by Pepper Hall.”

The building’s grand entrance will be located on Sansom Street, through which the courtyard — one of the “signature elements” of the Law School, according to Kennedy — will be clearly visible.

In addition, the Goat Lounge, a meeting place overlooking the courtyard, will also undergo renovations. The room currently holds a “very special, almost iconic place in the hearts and minds of law students,” according to Fitts, and is known for the statue of a goat at its center, which supposedly grants whomever touches it eternal wisdom.

The three-story building will contain an auditorium, cafe, student center and moot courtroom on its ground level, faculty offices on the second story, as well as a public conference room, administrative offices and a roof terrace overlooking the courtyard on the Tannenbaum Hall side, according to Kennedy.

The second story will also include a bridge to Silverman Hall, where additional faculty offices will be located.

Fitts speculated that once the building is completed, Penn Law will boast the “finest urban law school campus in the country.”

Construction will begin May 2010 and end December 2011. The building is scheduled to open January 2012.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.