1100 Architect, P. C.

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

1100 Architect

ARCHITECTS
1100 Architect

STATUS
Built

YEAR
2016

LOCATION
Philadelphia, PA, United States

CATEGORY
Cultural › Cultural Center  Educational › University

When the University of Pennsylvania launched a new institute that would aggregate all its international activities, it turned to an unlikely building for what would become the new headquarters of this major new initiative: a small run-down cottage built in 1851.

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

A design, by 1100 Architect, preserved the house while transforming the site into a 21st century flagship for this newly formed institute. The Perry World House, as it is now called, will serve as the hub for global engagement, allowing affiliates from each of the university’s 12 schools to address international affairs in a cross-disciplinary way.

The new limestone-clad building sits at the heart of Penn’s campus, mediating two very different conditions: a pedestrian/domestic scale to its south and west, and a busy urban scale and traffic corridor to its north and east.

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

The building’s facets allow it to modulate its scale in a seamless way, deferring to the original house, on one hand, but providing a strong edge to the busy street, on the other.

The design incorporates a significant portion of the existing house, which the architects meticulously preserved, per historic documentation. It now serves as a 50-person conference room and a student lounge. A vast atrium, the World Forum, provides abundantly daylit flexible space for up to 150 seats.

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

By suspending structure from above, the design allows interior spaces, including the soaring World Forum, to be column free.

On track for LEED Silver certification, the project incorporates many sustainable design features, including abundant natural light, stormwater capture, and energy -efficient fixtures. A landscape design helps shape usable outdoor space, becoming a more fluid node for the pedestrian experience.

University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

Because of the inter-disciplinary nature of the building’s program, the architects included a vast network of sightlines between interior spaces and between inside and outside.


University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

1100 Architect, P. C.
T +1 212 6451011 F +1 212 6454670
1100 Architect, P. C.
550 7th Ave 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10018, United States