The majority of students are away for the summer, but campus is far from quiet. Construction crews hustle every day, diligently revamping the old or building the new, taking special care to perfect the beautiful urban oasis that is uniquely Penn.

“There are a lot fewer students than we normally have, so the summer is when we try to do most of our exterior work,” says Mike Dausch, executive director of design and construction management at Facilities and Real Estate Services (FRES). “Also, we get the best weather to do it in. So there are sidewalk projects, roofing projects, façade projects, and with fewer students in residential facilities, we can make a lot more noise.”

When students return mid-August, two major projects will have come to a close: Larry Robbins House and Hill College House. Both buildings received major facelifts throughout the past year.

Robbins, which is home to the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, dons a new slew of virtues fit for all its coordinated dual-degree Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science undergraduate students. At 36th Street and Locust Walk, the reconstructed space boasts three floors full of natural sunlight, and a mixture of new, state-of-the-art offices, study areas, and lounge spaces.

Hill, at 33rd and Walnut streets, has had its exterior restored, with cleaned brick and updated windows, a new roof, and revamped landscaping. The interior is completely fresh, with added central air, renovated bedrooms and bathrooms, and majorly updated central kitchen and dining areas.

Other long-term construction projects in the works this summer include the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, the Evans Main Clinic and Schattner Building, and the Stemmler Building, all of which will be completed in 2018. Phase 1 of Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Technology and new 1.5 million-square-foot hospital, dubbed the Pavilion, have also begun.

But not all projects are quite as large as the aforementioned. Many of the construction projects this summer, which began right after Commencement and will run until move-in, are smaller scale, but of great importance.

Near 33rd and Spruce streets, for instance, across from Franklin Field and the Palestra, Penn commuters can see firsthand a sidewalk and hardscape replacement in effect.

“We’re redoing the sidewalk, planting new trees; there will be new cobbles, new curbs, and new lighting,” explains Jennifer Wetzel, director of design and construction at FRES.

Those walking along Walnut Street, between 34th and 38th streets, can see tree replacements. Also, there have been small hardscape improvements, with some pavers and new plantings, on 40th Street near the Dental School.

Mark Kocent, principal planner of the Office of the University Architect, says his team keeps a condition assessment of all the walkways on campus, and gives priority to those that need the most attention.

“We have a high priority list, and we spread those out each summer,” Kocent says. “So, for instance, next summer we’ll redo the sidewalk along Hill College House, and the following summer we will do 34th Street along the side of Meyerson.”

Also happening this summer, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is undergoing maintenance on its steam line system. Across campus, Kocent says, there are eight locations with steam generators, which look similar to trailers. They are temporary, Kocent adds—and only set to be on campus until August.

A few renovation projects this summer aren’t so noticeable. Current Century Bond heating, ventilation, and air conditioning projects in the works, and slated to be completed next year, are at Leidy Laboratories, Stemmler, Richards A&B, and Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

“It’s the type of thing that you aren’t going to see from the outside, but inside Van Pelt, for example, we’re just starting to replace 12 different air handlers in different phases, along with cleaning and repairing pretty much everything else in the mechanical systems, all while doing it while the library is fully occupied,” Wetzel says.

Summer also makes for the perfect time to renovate classrooms, Wetzel says. Right now, Leidy 10, a large biology classroom, is getting a complete makeover. There will be new furniture, seating, and technology, as well as painting and carpeting. There is also a refresh taking place inside nine different classrooms in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall and one in Huntsman Hall.

“Right now, we are on track with our projects, and by the time students come back, they won’t even know all that happened,” says Dausch. “They’ll come back and just get to enjoy the nice new classroom, the nice new sidewalk.”