Penn State Selects Internationally Acclaimed Architect For Dickinson School of Law Building Project

Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law continues to move forward with its approximately $100 million building project with the announcement that Polshek Partnership of New York, architects for projects such as the prestigious William J. Clinton Presidential Center, will take the lead in designing and constructing the new and completely integrated law school facilities in Carlisle and University Park.

Penn State’s Board of Trustees chose Polshek Partnership from more than twenty leading national and international firms who expressed interest in the project. Partners Richard M. Olcott, design, and Timothy P. Hartung, management, will oversee all phases of development with Kevin P. McClurkan acting as project manager. Stephen Chu and Kate Mann will serve as project architects for the Carlisle and University Park facilities, respectively.

Gary C. Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer of the university, explained plans for the expanded facilities at both campuses will include courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, auditoriums, libraries, state-of-the-art classrooms, common spaces and exterior gathering spaces.

A signature facility will be constructed on the Law School's current site in Carlisle, Pa. The planned new facility at University Park will be located north of Park Avenue, adjacent to the Arboretum and in close proximity to the new Smeal College of Business Administration Building and Forest Resources Building.

Founded in 1963, Polshek Partnership has a distinguished reputation for engineering compelling and distinctive projects for academic, scientific and cultural institutions. Of particular interest to The Dickinson School of Law is Polshek Partnership’s appreciation of historic traditions and the familiarity with developments in legal education, as evidenced in the firm’s involvement with the preservation of Carnegie Hall and in its design of buildings such as Columbia University Law School Jerome Greene Hall and William C. Warren Law Review Building. Polshek Partnership has also been tapped to design the Federal Courthouse in Harrisburg (2010).

“Polshek Partnership Architects is a firm of the highest possible reputation and standards,” said Dean Philip J. McConnaughay. “We can look forward to a signature building in Carlisle that will attract the attention of people worldwide. I am confident it will be respectful of our community setting and simultaneously expressive of the dignity of the legal profession and The Dickinson School of Law.”

The Office of Planning and Architecture in Harrisburg will act as the local liaison for Polshek Partnership for the duration of the law school project.