Liberal Arts Research & Teaching Building

The Pennsylvania State University selected Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to provide full‑service architectural and engineering design for the new Liberal Arts Research and Teaching Building (LARTB) at the University Park campus. The project encompasses a roughly 110,000‑to‑135,000 gross‑sf academic building that will house classrooms, research labs, museum space, faculty and graduate offices, and administrative support areas for several liberal‑arts departments. The design scope includes program validation, three conceptual design options, schematic design, design development, construction‑document production, and construction administration, all coordinated with a third‑party construction manager‑at‑risk. The contract was awarded through a qualifications‑based, full‑open competition process culminating in a board‑of‑trustees announcement on July 19 2019. The building is budgeted at $112.6 million total construction, with the A/E design services expected to represent a typical architectural fee of roughly 7‑10 % of construction costs. Key points: • Full‑service A/E design for a high‑performance, LEED‑certified campus building. • Requirements include flexible classroom and lab spaces, museum areas, and integration with existing campus fabric. • Design phases follow PSU’s standard “1‑P” agreement (SD → DD → CD → CA) and must coordinate with a construction manager‑at‑risk. • The selection process was qualifications‑based, involving an LOI, long‑list RFP, short‑list interviews, and final award by the Board of Trustees.