On Friday, Nov. 8, the entire Penn community is invited to celebrate a new center of student living and learning.

Penn President Amy Gutmann will be joined by David L. Cohen, Chairman of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and major donors at a symbolic groundbreaking for the New College House at Hill Field, the campus’ first-ever residential building specifically designed as a college house. The building will be located on Hill Field, a site bounded by 33rd, 34th, Walnut, and Chestnut streets.

To kick off this landmark project, faculty, staff, and students are invited to the tent on Hill Field, 34th and Chestnut streets, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Friday for live entertainment, delicious food, and giveaways. The event takes place rain or shine; a PennCard is needed to gain admission to the event.

Penn’s College House system, which began 15 years ago, currently has 11 residences that form the dynamic shared communities of undergraduates, faculty, staff, and graduate students within the larger campus context. Currently, 52 percent of the University's undergraduates reside within the College House system. The houses serve as microcosms of the University's intellectual variety and strengths, and provide learning opportunities outside of the conventional classroom.

“In 15 years they have become enormously successful, and life in a college house has become a touchstone for generations of student experiences at Penn,” President Gutmann says.

Construction will begin in 2014 and is expected to be completed by 2016.

The 198,000-square-foot building, a $127 million project, will house approximately 350 undergraduate students, in three-, four-, five- and six- bedroom suites, and contain a dining venue, seminar rooms, a media center, and a large multipurpose space for social and cultural activities. 

A central courtyard will serve the population of the building and will be able to accommodate a variety of events, including small concerts, barbeques, and other leisure activities.