Penn Music building to reopen Wednesday

After 18 months of construction, the newly refurbished Penn Music building fully reopens Wednesday.

With furniture and boxes delivered, teachers are settling into their offices while classes are resuming in state-of-the-art classrooms.

Though several parts of the project, such as landscaping details and exterior walls, have yet to be completed, according to Chairman of the Department of Music Jeffrey Kallberg, the department is situated in its revamped home and “open for business.”

The building boasts acoustically-isolated classrooms, offices and practice rooms so that students and professors can work without interruption from passing street commotion, he said.

It also allows for equipment, Director of Design and Construction Chris Kern said, that “raises the bar for technology in the music department,” such as recording studios and a computer lab.

Additionally, the setup of the building itself — which includes faculty and student lounges and several open spaces — will encourage more faculty and student interaction, Vice Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Ramin Sedehi said.

Music Ph.D. candidate Roger Grant agreed that the layout of the new building will create a sense of closeness within the department.

During construction, “the culture around the physical space changed,” he said, “[but] the idea of having a space as your own is important to your identity as a department.”

He added that now “people will actually hang around. There will be more of a sense of community.”

Just as important as the new building’s innovative features are its eco-friendly features, Sedehi stressed, as it “is the first ‘green’ academic building on campus.”

Many aspects of the construction process were environmentally-conscious, such as its use of recycled materials, Kern said.

Moreover, the building itself is designed to be sustainable, boasting sun shades and operable windows to minimize air conditioning needs, he added.

The University expects that the building will earn a silver rating from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system — the benchmark for “green buildings” nationwide.

Amid so much innovative technology, the project also preserved the original character of the building, which was constructed as an orphanage in 1890 and purchased by the University in the early 20th century.

“Penn has the explicit design principle of creating the best buildings of our time,” University Architect David Hollenberg said, while still preserving their historical elements.

The architect the University chose, Ann Beha Architects, is dually known for its skillful preservation and 21st-century additions, making for “a really nice collision of a vision and a historic building,” he added.

“The new building is a fusion of the old and new,” Kallberg agreed, noting some “remarkable brickwork you could never see” that is now on display, and some interesting common spaces where the modern and the traditional meet.

This aspect of the new music building is a unique one that will also be echoed in future FRES projects, according to Facilities and Real Estate Services Vice President Anne Papageorge.

“The project embodies a philosophy of taking care of existing buildings and expanding where needed, taking advantage of developing technology and at the same time respecting and preserving Penn’s legacy,” she said.

With the project so close to completion, Kallberg said the department is excited to be returning home.

“We’re delighted to be back in the middle of campus after 18 months of exile on Market Street,” he said. “We’re feeling pretty good.”

This article has been edited to reflect that Ann Beha Architects was the project architect, rather than the construction management firm.

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