Payette creates engineering building with a "folded form" at Penn State University
Boston architecture studio Payette has completed an academic building in central Pennsylvania called ECoRE, which features a sculptural form and facades wrapped in reddish brick and metal fins.
The Engineering Collaborative Research and Education Building, called ECoRE for short, is located on the university's campus in the town of State College.
It sits within a new engineering precinct that was master planned by Payette.
In addition to the master plan, the studio has designed two buildings for the precinct – the Engineering Design and Innovation Building, completed in 2023, and the ECoRe facility.
The latter serves as the main hub for the College of Engineering.
Totalling 280,000 square feet (26,013 square meters), the building has five levels above grade and one below.
The building features a range of functions, including high-tech laboratories, classrooms, offices, and social spaces. There is also a library and cafe.
The subterranean level holds speciality research spaces, such as anechoic chambers, wind tunnels, flight simulators and a roto-craft ice-testing facility.
Roughly L-shaped in plan, the building is shaped with various cuts and folds, resulting in a dynamic appearance.
The structural frame is a combination of steel and concrete.
Facades are mostly clad in iron-spot brick, although the southeast side, which faces the main campus, is glazed and lined with copper-anodised aluminium fins.
"With its folded form and articulated facade, the ECoRE Building defines the arrival to the new engineering campus," the team said.
The southeast elevation overlooks a plaza and serves as the main entrance. Inside, there is an area called the Vertical Commons – a multi-level atrium surrounded by spaces for studying and gathering.
"Anchoring the project is the Vertical Commons, a dynamic study hall that showcases the precinct's social energy and establishes a vibrant new identity for the College of Engineering," said Payette.
The building accommodates five engineering departments and was designed to foster collaboration among the different fields.
"The ECoRE Building realigns research into thematic groupings and emphasizes shared use and space optimisation – an approach that will reshape the college's culture for decades," the team said.
Because spaces had differing height requirements – for instance, labs needed to be taller than offices – the team used a "skip-stop" strategy for the layout.
Interior finishes include white oak wall panels, concrete flooring and metal railings.
Other projects by Payette include a Boston academic building wrapped in ribbons of steel, and a V-shaped building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with green roofs and a doughnut-shaped terrace.
The photography is by Warren Jagger
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