The University City neighborhood in West Philadelphia is growing every year with new projects rising into the skyline. Designed by ZGF Architects and developed by Ventas Inc., the signature tower of One uCity Square at the 14-acre uCity Square development is well underway, as it approaches the final phases of construction. The building, located at 225 North 38th Street, rises to a height of 250 feet and 13 stories. The building makes for a refreshing design for the area, with the glass and metal exterior highlighting the jagged notches on the southeast corner.
One uCity Square. Credit: ZGF Architects
Activity on the site was noted back in September 2020, when a number of machines were observed on site along with earth movement. Excavation was underway throughout the following winter, and the square pit saw concrete work underway in March 2021. Tower cranes were installed just before summer had started, and shortly after the steel structure was flying toward the sky at a rapid pace. Rising with a rapid pace, the tower was already halfway up by September, and just two months later the steel frame had topped out. The facade was underway by December, and had reached the halfway point by February 2022.
One uCity Square notches. Photo by Thomas Koloski
One uCity Square facade. Photo by Thomas Koloski
Much progress has since been accomplished, as the building looks significantly closer to the renderings. In May, glass had reached the final floor under the roof. By now, the exterior has wrapped around most of the entire top of the building. Scaffolding is set up on each notch of the corner to work on final exterior, such as the lights and ceilings. The metal fins on the east and south faces all approach different lengths, and stand out in reality more than the renderings do. The rest of the missing glass and metal is likely to be installed by the end of the next month.
One uCity Square looking west. Photo by Thomas Koloski
One uCity Square is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
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Resistance is futile 🙂
Beautiful building!