Project Description
Gerri C. LeBow Hall achieves Drexel’s vision for a marquee building, conveying corporate sensibility for the LeBow College of Business while fitting in the architectural context of University City. A twelve-story tower is angled to match the intersection between the two main campus walks; its robust masonry and glass form a visual connection to the Center City skyline. Its site connects Drexel’s main quadrangle o bustling Market Street.
Designed to reflect the College’s belief in experiential learning, the facility features a mock trading floor, behavior lab, business incubator, and other simulation spaces that will prepare students to thrive in the business world after graduating. Unique ‘cluster classrooms’ were structured to facilitate hybrid lecture-groupwork classes, equipped with chairs that swivel 180° from lecture position to form small clusters around elliptical tables. Careful coordination of furniture, technology, sightlines, and acoustics was required to successfully engineer this functionality.
LeBow Hall’s signature element is central atrium rising five stories from the building’s base, surrounded by classrooms and student spaces with a grand stair connecting each floor. It is a place to see and be seen, encouraging informal encounters between students and faculty to create a sense of community and collegiality even in a business-minded environment. However, it is also a practical¬¬¬ design solution that helps bring clarity and organization to a building with a large program and many rooms.
Completed in association with Robert A.M. Stern Architects.