Approximately 3,000 square-feet of Curtis Hall will be renovated to bring state-of-the-art building management facilities to the aging building.
The renovations will include new climate control systems and a new elevator to increase accessibility to the building, which was completed in 1928. The renovations will be in an existing unused area of the fourth floor of Curtis and will support a new co-location for high-performing computing within the University.
The University chose Philadelphia-based architectural and interior design firm BLT Architects for the project. Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania have both worked with BLTa on other projects in the past.
“This is exciting work for us because it gives us the opportunity to turn forgotten and unused space into a much-needed high-tech facility,” Michael Prifti, Principal of BLTa, said. “We applaud Drexel University’s research department for their resourcefulness and imagination, and are proud to be their partner in overcoming the space challenge many urban universities face. We look forward to assisting Drexel in reintroducing this portion of Curtis Hall to the academic community as the University Research Computing Center.”
Drexel released a press statement saying that the result of the project will be greater efficiency for the University’s high-performance research computing community and that the University’s networked research infrastructure will be future-proofed.