Facilities and Real Estate

Growing a ‘culture of cultivation’ on campus

Even on an urban campus, there are numerous places to coax food from the soil. From the Penn Student Garden on Spruce Street to the Penn Park Orchard, Facilities and Real Estate Services staff are expanding opportunities for the community to interact with an edible landscape.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The new and improving Penn Bookstore

The 50,000-square-foot Bookstore, last updated in 2013, is completing renovations, including a revamped café, new escalators and stairs, and a food-and-drink marketplace.

Lauren Hertzler

Architects of innovation

The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is rising as a towering example of the value of behavioral research in health-care building design.

Penn Today Staff

Pro tips from Penn’s gardeners

Community garden coordinator Lila Bhide and Penn Park Orchard intern Cole Jadrosich of Facilities and Real Estate Services offer suggestions for creating a thriving, edible, urban garden.

Katherine Unger Baillie



Media Contact


In the News


Fast Company

The housing market’s home insurance shock, as told by an interactive map

A paper co-authored by Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School finds that home insurance premiums have risen sharply since 2020, concentrated in disaster-prone ZIP codes and driven by elevated reinsurance costs.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn wants Philly to be a global track destination. Bringing more pros to town is part of it

Penn Relays director Steve Dolan and Penn athletic director Alanna Shanahan share how the new Grand Slam Track circuit event will help make Penn a global track destination.

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Technical.ly Philly

A sneak peek inside Penn Engineering’s new $137.5M mass timber building

Amy Gutmann Hall aims to be Philadelphia’s next big hub for AI and innovation while setting a new standard for architectural sustainability.

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6ABC.com

New building at University of Pennsylvania aims to become hub for AI research

Amy Gutmann Hall, set to open in early 2025, is dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science. 

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Philadelphia Business Journal

First look: Inside Penn’s new Amy Gutmann Hall, the region's largest mass timber building

Amy Gutmann Hall will be a catalyst for groundbreaking artificial intelligence research and collaboration across disciplines, with remarks from Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Saving Philly’s bats, one DIY condo at a time

The Wildlife Futures Program at the School of Veterinary Medicine has facilitated the design and construction of wooden bat boxes to be installed in campus parks, with remarks from Julie Ellis. The project is the brainchild of Penn undergraduate Nick Tanner.

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