The Graham Athletics & Wellness Center | William Penn Charter School 

William Penn Charter School, the oldest Quaker school in the country, strives to create a learning environment where arts and athletics flourish side by side with scholastic achievement in support of its vision of “educating students to live that make a difference.” The wellness and athletics programs at Penn Charter are woven into the fabric of the institution, providing an opportunity for every student to participate. 

To accommodate more than 900 students, Penn Charter needed to build a facility to support one of the most extensive athletic programs among Pennsylvania Independent Schools, as well as serve the needs of the broader student population, including K-12 physical education. As the most recent project of a multiphase campus master plan, the Graham Athletic and Wellness Center is strategically positioned at the crossroads of the athletic and academic areas, and helps to realize the larger master plan goals of creating a pedestrian-friendly campus core free of vehicular traffic. 

The exterior expression of the new facility is a contemporary but contextual deconstruction of the austere colonial revival architecture prevalent on the campus, originally established in 1925, which features regimented facades, schist stonework and white trim. The interior spaces, washed with daylight and with clear lines of sight through to campus, evoke the values of a Quaker education: simplicity, transparency and community. Designers worked closely with the institution to program and plan the new facility, which accommodates multiple wellness programs and athletic programs, by focusing on what students need to thrive and make a difference in the 21st century.

ARCHITECT OF RECORD

EwingCole

Philadelphia, Penn.

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