Geosciences excellence
Penn State University is renovating the Deike Building to consolidate and upgrade the teaching and research facilities for their world-renowned Department of Geosciences. The labs will support research where sharing of resources and interdisciplinary study is encouraged, a vision reinforced with new faculty, staff, and student spaces that enhance community and efficiency. These improvements will be phased in their implementation alongside significant MEPT systems upgrades and a comprehensive rehabilitation of the exterior enclosure.
Phase 1 (completed): Abatement and rehabilitation of exterior envelope, including full window replacement.
Phase 2 (in design): Upgrades to building-wide mechanical systems.
Phase 3 (design completed):
- ISO 7, ISO 6, and ISO 5 clean workspaces for the Laboratory for Isotopes and Metals in the Environment (LIME)
- Teaching, research, and prep labs for analytical geochemistry, paleobotany microscopy, sedimentary geology computer modeling, and glaciology electronics
Our decade-long engagement in the renovation of the Deike Building on Penn State’s University Park campus has included rigorous field verification, complex scope sequencing, and highly specialized design application as we have progressively solved the problem of making this facility a modern research and teaching environment for their world-class Geosciences Department.
The exterior restoration of the mid-20th century building abated hazardous materials and addressed widespread issues of masonry integrity. Additionally, it was an effort to bolster an enclosure that will protect highly sensitive research. The window replacements were specially designed with high-grade coatings and supplemental, metal-free layers to ensure they were resistant to the harsh acids being used to process micro-samples in the clean geochemistry laboratories.
