Penn State Hazleton Campus Welcomes Students to Newly Renovated Building

This week, Penn State University’s Hazleton Campus will welcome Spring 2018 students to the first complete semester in the newly renovated Kostos classroom building. Last October, the university held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the rededication of the building, originally constructed in 1970. The following month, the new engineering laboratories within the building were dedicated. Page/SSTPlanners is pleased to be part of the project team for the largest building on campus.

The multistory Kostos Building renovation was completed in two phases to allow for partial building occupancy throughout the project. It included the programming of spaces for classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and an auditorium, all of which are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to allow for video conferencing and online learning.

According to an article in the Penn State News, Penn State Hazleton is the only Penn State campus to offer a degree in engineering with a focus on alternative energy and power generation. The new laboratory spaces will facilitate teaching, hands-on learning experiences, and student and faculty research.

The renovation, the first major one since the building was constructed, reorganized and modernized all interior space. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems also were upgraded. The previous entrance was no longer able to accommodate traffic flow so it was moved to another side of the building and enlarged. Another news article providing more details on the renovation can be viewed here.

Page/SST Planners provided complete lab programming and lab planning services for the building, which was designed by Spillman Farmer Architects. Other key project team members included Barry Isett & Associates, Inc., which provided structural engineering; H.F. Lenz Company, MEP engineering; Hanover Engineering Associates Inc., civil engineering and Derck & Edson Associates, landscaping.

Additional team members were Metropolitan Acoustics, which served as the A/V consultant; Stahl Sheaffer, safety consultation; Atriade, security consultation; Mark Sobeck, roofing consultant and Becker and Frondorf, estimator.

To watch a video of the building dedication ceremony and hear remarks from key attendees, click here.