The Laborers’ District Council Education & Training Center

The new 60,000 square-foot, $26 million, three-story masonry building for the Labors’ District Council Education and Training Center is a state-of-the-art facility which provides large training bays, for a field-simulated construction experience, and classrooms featuring the latest interactive technology to create a well-trained and effective workforce.

In addition to the two large training bays and six classrooms, the building provides ample study rooms, student café and lounges, lecture hall, instructors’ offices, and an event and conference center for the union and community.  The construction is Gold LEED Certified, and will use its sustainable buildings systems as a training tool for Union members

The design utilizes a palate of masonry, stone, and glass to express a feeling of strength and stability.  The building showcases Philadelphia trade unions and demonstrates their high level of craftsmanship.  The scale of the building was designed to provide continuity to the fabric of the street. Large scale windows and masonry façade were intended to allude to the city’s industrial past.

Dedicated to the education and training of their union members, and including facilities for community outreach, the Center is an essential component of the North Broad Street renaissance.

The building is a recipient of the GBCA 2021 Execllence in Construction Award: for the Best Educational Institutional Project.

Philly’s only majority black building trades union planning move from the ‘burbs to North Broad

Laborers’ District Council opens new training center in North Philadelphia

City’s only majority black building trades union to move from the ‘burbs to North Broad

Laborers break ground on $22 million training center on North Broad

Location:  Philadelphia, PA
Size:  60,000 Square Feet
General Contractor:  TN Ward
Civil:  Langan
MEP:  Bruce Brooks Associates
Structural:  O’Donnell & Naccarato
Lighting:  O’ Donohoe Lighting
Acoustics:   Metropolitan Acoustics
Photography:  Jeffrey Totaro