Tangen Hall

Located on the northeast corner of 40th and Sansom streets, Tangen Hall is the physical “start here” button for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators at the University of Pennsylvania.  Tangen Hall is made possible by the AKO Foundation, the charitable foundation established by Nicolai Tangen, W'92 and Katja Tangen.  

Planning Strategy

At seven stories and 68,000-square-feet, Tangen Hall is the largest hub of its kind on any college campus. Designed by KSS Architects and developed by the Hankin Group, Tangen Hall sets up each floor with a destination program that draws people vertically through the building. The design focuses on fluid interaction at various scales, from large-scale collaborations at the ground floor maker lab to cross-disciplinary team workshops on the upper floors. A façade of precast concrete and shades of green glass will offer a transparent view into the innovation culture at Penn. The exterior color gradient is folded into the interior including the lobby and through the central staircase. Tangen Hall incorporates sustainable materials and achieves LEED certification at the Silver level.

Program

Tangen Hall houses Venture Lab which is a partnership by the Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design to consolidate Penn’s startup ecosystem and to provide experiential learning to all Penn students. Student programs such as the Goergen Entrepreneurship Center, the Sol C. Snider Center, and Weiss Tech House are now integrated into Venture Lab and will support hands-on activity such as creating, developing, and scaling numerous ventures. Within the building are nine innovation spaces, including five Maker Studios, the Food Innovation Lab, Digital Media Lab, Digital Design Studio, and Retail Lab. Other organizations located in Tangen Hall include the Integrated Product Design master’s level program, the Jay H. Baker Retail Center, the Harris Family Alternative Investments Program, and the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance.

Tangen Hall

Tangen Hall

Phase: Completed
Year Built: 2020
Floors: 7
Trustee Date: 2020
Area Manager
Collins, Brent
Building Manager
Enders, Eric