The Sansom Street Project

“The Sansom Street Project completes a 10-year transformation of the Penn Law campus. This major expansion in our academic facilities will ensure our continued role as a leader and innovator in legal education.”
- Dean Michael A. Fitts.

From its roof-top garden, state-of-the-art moot court room and 350-seat auditorium, to its grand, two-story entry hall with spectacular views of the Law School Courtyard, the proposed new Penn Law School building will complete a legal facility as fine as any in the country.

The building, in the design stage with architects at Boston's Kennedy & Violich and pending Trustees approval, exquisitely addresses several challenges. As the fourth piece of a four-building site, the new structure will physically connect Silverman Hall, Penn Law's signature, 110-year-old Georgian-style building with Tanenbaum Hall. And it will do so while respecting the historical three-story row homes that make up the trendy Restaurant Row across Sansom Street. The end result: A façade that is well situated in its surroundings and welcomes the University community to Penn Law.

The approximately $30 million, 40,000-square-foot Sansom Street Project follows a multi-year, $18 million, top-to-bottom renovation of three of Penn Law’s interconnected buildings. As a result of those renovations, the Law School’s classrooms and Biddle Library are state of the art; new faculty offices facilitate scholarship and student advising; collaborative-study rooms are available for teams of students; and the Gittis Clinic and student-activities and groups benefit from improved meeting space.

Those renovations supported a 50 percent growth in Penn Law’s faculty, increases in course offerings and the launching of nearly 30 joint-degree and certificate programs with other schools at Penn.

The Project will continue to support that growth while promoting the collaborative environment that is central to the Penn Law’s educational mission. The Law School will have a modern and intimate home second to none.