Ben Franklin TechVentures2 Lehigh University Mountaintop Campus
Construction Value:
$30,630,000
Client:
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NE Pennsylvania
Architect:
Spillman Farmer Architects
The building of TechVentures2 was viewed as so high profile that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and representatives from the Department of Commerce came to Bethlehem to preside over the official groundbreaking ceremony. Completed in September of 2011, the TechVentures2 tower is linked to the original Ben Franklin TechVentures building and offers additional access to wet lab, office and meeting space. The new, LEED Gold certified tower features a high efficiency curtain wall system, precast façade panels, a pyramid-shapedsolarium in the center to allow sunlight to flow into the fourth floor and down through a portion of glass flooring into the third floor, rooftop photovoltaic panels to supplement electrical requirements as well as other daylight harvesting technology and numerous energy-saving devices, two elevators, advanced audio/visual systems and a state-of-the-art conference center. TechVentures2 is an award winning facility which has been recognized as:
- Pennsylvania Economic Development Association Project of the Year in 2011
- First place national honors in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 ENERGY STAR Challenge Contest
- Winner of the MID ATLANTIC Real Estate Journal’s “Best of 2011” Favorite/Most Unusual Project in the General Contractor and Green Project categories