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Exterior of Lehigh University’s Chandler Ullmann Hall renovation by MGA Partners, showing students walking, and a historic stone façade under spring trees.

Chandler Ullmann Hall

Lehigh University

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Interior of Moore College of Art & Design’s Student Commons by MGA Partners, featuring contemporary lounge furniture, a fireplace, and collaborative study areas.

Student Commons

Moore College of Art & Design

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Modern academic building at The Haverford School designed by MGA Partners, with glass façades and students playing soccer on an adjacent athletic field.

Upper School

The Haverford School

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Related Projects

Area

350,000 sf masterplan
20,000 sf construction

In the Media

Colleges Design New Housing to Engage and Retain Students, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Architects Teach Old Dorms New Tricks at Franklin & Marshall, The Chronicle of Higher Education

An atmospheric photograph taken at dusk shows one of the MGA projects.

Award for Design Excellence
AIA Philadelphia

The Emblems of the four College Houses create a common visual language.

Each Commons is discrete as a project and as an opportunity for a foundational gift that will create ties that bind students to their College House long after their graduation. 

Photograph showing architectural detail.
An exterior photograph of one of the college houses.
An exterior photograph of one of the college houses.
An exterior photograph of one of the college houses.

The common language of materials unifies the four buildings, but each has its own identity by dint of its massing, siting, and connection.

An interior photograph of a community room.
An interior photograph of a conference room.
A student reads in the multipurpose room.
The campus is lush on a sunny day.

They are composed of brick to complement the existing context; limestone to add formality; and glass to offer a welcoming entrance.

The commons consist of glass and brick and integrate themselves into the existing campus.

The Commons are held off the facade of the existing residences, giving them presence in the campus landscape. 

This diagram displays the location and character of MGA’s projects on the Franklin & Marshall College campus.
MGA Partners’ modern insertions stand within the context of a historic campus.

Masterplan and
College Commons
Franklin & Marshall College

Franklin & Marshall, a liberal arts college on an historic campus, adopted in 2003 a College House initiative to reinvigorate student life by integrating daily academic and residential activities. This called for a masterplan to create six College Houses of up to 1,500 students within the campus landscape defined by the existing residential quadrangle and an adjacent athletic field. Subsequent to the masterplan, MGA Partners has completed the first four projects—a commons building for Ware College House, Bonchek College House, Brooks College House and Weis College House. 

The commons buildings are designed to provide the social gathering space for each house and are the focus of the academic integration with space for seminars, colloquia, and guest speakers. Each contains a living room, a multipupose room, a seminar room, house offices, a kitchen, and support spaces. Also included are exterior spaces of a courtyard and a terrace, which connect to the larger landscape of the Quad.

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