Designed to Foster New Era of Scientific Research and Cross-Discipline Collaboration
Temple University SERC building interior rendering
Philadelphia, PA – Temple University’s $137M Science Education and Research Center (SERC) opened this month as one of the largest and most ambitiously collaborative academic science facilities in the U.S. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, in collaboration with Philadelphia-based USA Architects, the seven-story, 247,000sf SERC integrates scientific inquiry across several disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, computational science, and computer information science.
“SERC represents Temple’s commitment to innovation in science and technology, which underpins the U.S. economy,” said Michael L. Klein, Dean of the College of Science and Technology. “Temple researchers and students working together will create new materials, help improve medicines, develop sustainable technologies and understand, at the most fundamental level, the world we live in.”
Located in the heart of Temple’s main campus in Philadelphia , SERC brings together seven scientific research centers and provides scientists, students, and faculty with 57 research labs, large lecture rooms, 17 teaching labs and open collaboration spaces throughout the building to support interaction and teaming. A two-story atrium within the building serves as a bustling gateway and connects with a new research and educational corridor linking the existing College of Engineering and the College of Science & Technology buildings to the new SERC facility.
“Seeing students and faculty researchers working side-by-side with their peers from other science disciplines demonstrates the dynamic character of the new labs and teaming spaces, and provides a working model for other university science centers,” said Jeff Johnson, AIA, principal-in-charge of the project team for ARC.
Sustainable design elements of the SERC include the harvesting of daylight via light shelves and interior glass walls to bring natural light deep into the building, advanced water recovery system to recapture and reuse grey water, and heat recovery and exchange systems to reuse the heat energy within the air handling systems. SERC is Temple’s first building to be eligible for LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.
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About ARC
ARC/ Architectural Resources Cambridge is a nationally recognized architectural, planning and interior design firm. From its founding 45 years ago to the present, firm success is directly related to the importance ARC staff place on the unique goals and objectives of each client. With an emphasis on design, the firm has garnered over 70 national and regional awards from a wide range of professional associations and publications.
About Temple University
Founded in 1884, Temple University is a comprehensive urban research and academic institution with an enrollment of about 39,000 students who can choose from nine campuses and 320 academic degree programs.
