University of Pennsylvania, Lea Institute of Hygiene, 225 South Thirty-fourth Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Significance: The Lea Institute of Hygiene, commonly called Smith Halls, is an early research institute on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The building was the design of mid-Victorian architects Collins and Autenrieth in consultation with its first director, John Shaw Billings (1839-1913). Billings was an early advocate of hygienic design: the Lea Institute of Hygiene marked the continuation of ideas represented by the design for the Johns Hopkins Hospital a generation earlier. Later alterations for new functions have changed the original balanced design but the original fabric is generally intact. Its last use was as a fine arts studio, and academic classrooms. The building forms a part of the University of Pennsylvania Historic District and stands across the street from the National Landmark Furness Building.
Survey number: HABS PA-6175
Building/structure dates: 1891 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1899 Subsequent Work