Penn State University, Behrend, Trippe Hall

A Vibrant New Residence Hall for PSU Behrend Students

Trippe Hall was a design-build project consisting of a new, multi-story, 65,000 sq. ft. residence hall located at Penn State University’s Behrend campus in Erie, PA. The program included 251 beds organized in double rooms, within individual bathrooms provided in wet cores at a ratio of 1 bathroom per 6 beds, each containing a shower, lavatory, and toilet. The new residence hall also included a professional staff department, a conference room, a central common lounge with a kitchen to serve the entire building, and smaller common spaces and study rooms distributed on each floor. Informal nooks are situated along the corridors to provide access to daylight and views. The design of the residence hall creates two distinctive outdoor spaces: an open-lawn quad shared with two existing residence halls and a more informal “backyard” space, fronting recreational opportunities provided by nearby gorge trails.