The new Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) will occupy a prominent and critical site on the University of Pennsylvania campus, simultaneously announcing one’s arrival to the campus core and furthering the University of Pennsylvania’s goal of enriching this entry point to the campus with inhabitation and urban intensity. The project must negotiate a one-story grade differential between Walnut and 32nd Streets, and establish strong relationships with its neighbors on the block, in particular the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, the historic Palestra athletic facility, and potential future development to its west. Care must be taken with respect to the adjacent railway bed in terms of mitigating structural vibration and, potentially, electromagnetic interference. This building, while modest in scale with respect to its environs, will play an outsized role in the expression of the University towards the City of Philadelphia by announcing its commitment to outstanding research and scholarship in the field of innovative energy development.