Representatives of Penn State’s East Classroom Building (ECB) project leadership team, alongside members of the construction and design teams, gathered to celebrate placement of the final structural steel beam with a traditional “topping out” ceremony. Attendees were invited to sign the beam before it was hoisted up and set in place, symbolizing the group’s arduous work so far.

In recent years, the University has seen increasing undergraduate enrollment, leading to the need for more instructional space on campus. To address Penn State’s long-term objectives, we designed flexible classrooms conditioned to support varied teaching and learning methods within an 83,610 GSF facility. The building will support up to 2,200 students by including 150-seat, tiered active learning classrooms, 400-seat lecture halls, and 150-seat flexible active learning classrooms, along with open study and collaboration spaces. Public circulation areas, student and faculty amenities, and acoustics were designed to manage peak class times in the building.

The design responds to surrounding mature heritage trees and an arced campus green known as The Meadow, contoured with neighboring University buildings. When done, the facility will complement the scale and shape of the existing Forest Resources Building and Business Building by completing the overall composition these buildings create to embrace the Meadow, a biodiverse area with a mix of native grasses and wildflowers that serves as a living laboratory for students. Interior collaboration spaces will open to views of The Meadow, as well as the University’s arboretum to the north. Designed to meet LEED Silver standards, the ECB reflects the University and team’s sustainability goals and emphasizes accessibility and wellbeing.

The building is expected to open for the fall 2026 semester.

The project team includes Turner Construction (Construction Manager), TYLin (Structural Engineer), HRG Engineers (Civil Engineer), Vanderweil Engineers (MEPFP Engineer), Ground Reconsidered (Landscape Architect), Acentech (AV/IT/Acoustical Consultant), The Lighting Practice (Lighting Designers), and Hastings Consulting (Code Consultant).