With the opening of the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, students and the general public are getting a rare glimpse into research practices at the University of Pennsylvania. In designing and building a facility with a very open layout and visible laboratory spaces, the team has created a space that defies conventional thinking about research facilities.
Todd Hoehn, senior project manager at architect Weiss/Manfredi, says that while laboratories are typically designed to be isolated from view, the school wanted to pull back the curtain and let the public experience the process. "The underlying concept is to take a typical nanotech lab, turn it inside out and make it visible," he says.