Firm partners Amy Stein and Katie Broh led a tour of the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University for AIA Ohio’s Design Symposium. Our comprehensive adaptation of this landmark paired a significant preservation component with several new insertions, primarily a glass and steel canopy, to fully support the acoustic and programming requirements for an advanced university and civic performance hall. September 2022
MGA Partners, in collaboration with Research Facilities Design, is currently working with Drexel University’s College of Engineering to re-envision its research and academic programs—and the spaces they need to foster a sustainable, interdisciplinary, and adaptable environment. Our study will include assessment, programming, planning and design for renovated, new and leased spaces throughout Drexel’s campus September 2022
Design is complete and construction is underway for the transformation of the central campus library at Northeastern University in Boston. The comprehensive project will position Snell Library (350,000sf) as a hub of student activity, shaping a university mission of experiential learning, collaborative research, and discovery September 2022
Construction has begun on our University of Delaware FinTech project at their STAR campus, an innovation hub where academic and industry collaboration happens. Our 50,000 sf facility on three floors will unite the Lerner School of Business and the College of Engineering with spaces for integrated research on financial technology and its applications in the marketplace. September 2022
Washington University in St.Louis commissioned MGA to design a new pavilion for their beautiful legacy campus—to be used at their annual commencement ceremony and other events. The steel and tensile fabric structure derives conceptually from the loggias and archways of their original historic Collegiate Gothic buildings. September 2022
Partner Mary Keefe was featured in an article in Wharton Magazine as a graduate (1981) who has been active with the school alumni association for two decades—and whose firm has recently completed a significant new building for Wharton on the Penn Campus. Keeping Wharton in the family, Mary’s daughter Martha is also a graduate (2013). January 2022
Our renovation of University of Delaware’s signature concert venue, Puglisi Orchestra Hall, was recognized with Honor Awards for Design Excellence from AIA Delaware and AIA Philadelphia, and a Divine Detail award from AIA Philadelphia. It features a compelling visual and acoustically superior interior envelope for practice and performance. November 2022
Our 74,000 sf addition for The Wharton School occupies a prominent gateway site on the Penn campus. The architecture is resonant with its context, where new spaces for student interaction and academic research share the trapezoidal footprint with a university utility infrastructure project. The building exterior is composed of large format porcelain rainscreen panels and a folded diagonal glass wall. August 2021
We have completed an historic restoration of the Joseph F. Weis Jr. U.S. Courthouse, prominent in downtown Pittsburgh, for the General Services Administration. The project revives an abandoned post office lobby and restores its historic Guastavino vault for use by the Social Security Administration. January 2021
MGA’s design for a future performing arts center at Central High School received an Award for Design Excellence from AIA Philadelphia. The School District of Philadelphia’s renowned high school has embarked on a pivotal expansion and advancement course with the center’s innovatively designed spaces for its music and theater programs, and a multi-purpose, 460 seat performance hall. December 2020
Lehigh University’s initiative for the preservation and enhancement of its historic campus core is further realized with our transformation of their formidable chemistry building. It was recognized with an AIA Pennsylvania Award for Design Excellence with the jury chair singling out MGA’s skillful reimaging of a landmark building with 21st-century technology, sustainability, accessibility and collaborative/social spaces.November 2020
Mary Keefe and MGA are underwriting a research study directed by Dr. Franca Trubiano focusing on 70 Years of Women in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. The study investigates the professional lives of women who graduated from Penn, 1950–2020. Begun in fall 2019, the research continues today. June 2020
Our project at Case Western Reserve University, the Maltz Center for the Performing Arts, received an Adaptive Reuse & Repurpose Award from Faith & Form, the interfaith journal on religion, art and architecture, in association with the AIA. The project repurposed a nationally registered synagogue into a new multi-disciplinary performing arts center, pairing a significant preservation component with modern insertions—primarily a glass and steel canopy—conceived to complement the historic character of the space. April 2020
Katie Broh AIA presented at the 2020 SCUP MidAtlantic Conference with University of Pennsylvania Campus Architect Mark Kocent and Wharton Senior Director of Operations Maria O’Callaghan-Cassidy. The presentation, Substation Project Enables New Academic Research Building at Campus Gateway, explored how building projects in tight urban campuses need to accomplish many objectives. For Wharton, new student learning and research spaces are being achieved within the parameters of an infrastructure project. March 2020
MGA was honored as Rookie of the Year by the Community Design Collaborative for our efforts towards a Feasibility Study for the Graves-MEE Mercy Douglass Community Wellness Center, proposed to serve the community of Southwest Philadelphia. Congratulations to our CDC lead, Sara Pettit AIA, and the entire MGA team that contributed to this worthy civic project. March 2020
Kent Hall is a former women’s refectory to be revived and repurposed as a Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory for undergraduate tutoring and proficiency. Designed in 1924 by Charles Klauder and now historically significant, it is consistent with the Neo-Georgian style on the iconic Central Green of the University of Delaware campus. Its vaulted formal dining rooms will become interactive classrooms. January 2020
Dan Kelley and his daughter presented at the Perspective 2019 conference in New York sponsored by The Plan, an Italian design publication. They paired to discuss two significant and adjacent projects in San Francisco built a generation apart—Yerba Buena Esplanade (MGA Partners) and Transbay Redevelopment (Goldman Sachs). Martha Kelley is a Vice President of Goldman Sachs who leads urban real estate investments. July 2019
Dan Kelley FAIA presented at the Boston Public Library, South End, designed by our founder Romaldo Giurgola—beginning with the brillliant moment of the Philadelphia School, following our connections to Boston through two design competitions, the resulting commission to build the library, and setting a path for future renovation. March 2019