In 2001 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows awarded its first Latrobe Fellowship to Philadelphia architects Stephen Kieran, FAIA, and James Timberlake, FAIA. The grant was established to fund research leading to significant advances in the profession of architecture. Since receiving the award, KieranTimberlake Associates (KTA) has been immersed in the study of building processes, assemblies, products, and new materials. The firm's research is leading to commercial applications, including advanced building-envelope composites, modular bathroom units, and factory-built door assemblies.

This research plays a major role in all of KTA's new projects, which is evident in the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science. The 48,000-square-foot facility houses offices, laboratories, meeting spaces, and a 150-seat auditorium. Levine Hall is shoehorned into a thicket of older brick and stone classroom buildings and connected to existing buildings on the north and south. The footprint and massing are calibrated to agree with the fenestration, scale, and parapet height of the adjacent buildings. A newly landscaped pedestrian walk leads to the double-height lobby on the eastern facade, with a view through to a courtyard in the rear.