Dec 6, 2022 _ news

Penn State University’s Marriott Foundation Building Wins Metamorphosis Award

Retrofit Magazine has announced the winners of its fourth annual Metamorphosis Awards—an award honoring outstanding work retrofitting commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings—and GBBN’s renovation of the Marriott Foundation Building at Penn State University won 2^nd Place in the Interiors category.

Formerly known as the “Oak Building,” the space was envisioned by Architect Robert Venturi, as a secluded faculty club, where professors could relax and socialize. However, after changing its use several times, it had fallen into disuse and disrepair.

Sensitive to the building’s historical importance, GBBN’s renovation restored much of what had been lost to ad hoc interventions, and adds distinctly new elements that reinforce the original design intent while serving its new use as the School of Hospitality Management’s Learning Center for Hospitality, Inclusion, and Innovation (LCHII).

Metamorphosis Awards Judge, Katie Hunt, applauded the renovation for “stripping away… old interventions to get back to the root of the space’s functionality and design.”

Learn more about the award at Retrofit Magazine.

For more on the Marriott Foundation Building, read our case study here.