West Chester University - The Sciences and Engineering Center & The Commons

The addition of The Sciences and Engineering Center and The Commons to West Chester University’s campus is a story of transformation. The challenges of integrating a new hybrid building on a constrained campus were quickly overshadowed by the potential to shape student life, promote academic collaboration, and reclaim the landscape.

As the architect of record, our team worked with the University to repurpose the last unbuilt space on campus where surface parking dominated. We designed a new facility to house a large lecture hall, divisible meeting room, the University’s catering facility, a replacement board dining facility with visible front-cooking, and multiple large and small collaboration spaces and classrooms including a learning stair with a large format multi-media experience. A green roof, visible from surrounding residence halls, is integral to overall stormwater management. Removal of a decommissioned boiler plant put new meaning to the vision of returning to a vibrant landscape, as we carved pedestrian pathways and designed the adjacent North Campus Drive parking facility.

The building houses program space for the College of Health Sciences, Physics, and the University’s new Biomedical Engineering degree. By incorporating student feedback, we delivered a design to enhance student life.