Articles by Thomas Koloski

2222 Market Street. Credit: Gensler

2222 Market Street Nearly Topped Out In Center City West

The steel structure of the office building under construction at 2222 Market Street, in Center City West, is nearly topped out. Designed by Gensler, he building is one of the tallest among the city’s under-construction buildings, as it will rise to a height of 318 feet and 20 stories. The project is being developed by Parkway Commercial Properties, which has recently been redeveloping multiple parking lots that it owns. The building will fill an empty void on Market Street, and offers a preview of what is to come to the area in the future.

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Worker on top Two Liberty Place. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Observing the Construction of Two Liberty Place

Among the multiple structures that make up the Liberty Place complex, Two Liberty Place is the second tallest, rising 848 feet and 58 stories, yet it is the largest by area, with 1.2 million square feet. As such, the building is one of the most largest skyscrapers in Philadelphia, as the Comcast Center measures nearly 1.4 million square feet and the Comcast Technology Center holds 1.5 million square feet. Two Liberty Place is located near the heart of Center City at 50 South 16th Street. Just like the rest of Liberty Place, the tower was designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn, who had unfortunately passed away in a bicycle crash in Chicago in May. The project was developed by Willard Rouse of Rouse and Associates, which eventually became Liberty Property Trust.

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Many more conceptual drawings of One Liberty Place. Drawings by Helmut Jahn

Looking Back at an Early Iteration of The Liberty Place Complex in Center City

From 1987 to 2007, the tallest building in the Philadelphia skyline was One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street in Center City, rising 945 feet and 61 stories tall, closely followed by the adjacent Two Liberty Place at 50 South 16th Street, which stands 848 feet and 58 stories tall and was completed in 1990. Designed by Helmut Jahn and developed by Rouse and Associates (later known as Liberty Property Trust), the Liberty Place complex features a fantastic glass, metal, and stone design. Today, Philadelphia YIMBY looks back at an earlier iteration of the complex when the towers were still in designing stages in 1984.

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YIMBY Presents Skyline Massings of Ultra Labs University City in West Philadelphia

The Ultra Labs University City is a 12-story building proposed at 125 North 32nd Street, University City, just to the south of the West Philadelphia rail yards. Developed by Republic Properties with SEPTA, the 185,279-square-foot facility will consist of mixed-use of laboratory and office space. Today we present YIMBY-exclusive concept massings that offer a comprehensive look at how the project will appear on the skyline.

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Unfinished Liberty Place design model. Photo from Helmut Jahn

Visualizing the Under-500-Foot-Tall Early Iterations of Liberty Place on the Skyline

The Liberty Place complex is emblematic of the Philadelphia skyline as they played a key role in Center City‘s skyscraper growth. The towers currently stand 61 and 58 stories tall, with angled sharp crowns pointing toward to the sky, one tower capped with a tall and another with a short spire. The project was commissioned by Willard G. Rouse III of Rouse and Associates, who had originally pictured a $150 million 38-story tower rising to a height that measured somewhere under 500 feet. Just days after New Year’s Day in 1984, the building was first discussed in a publication about how Rouse won the bid for the site how it may become the city’s premier office tower. The architect, Helmut Jahn, was selected in March, and had produced a rapid succession of concepts under 500 feet, which eventually evolving well above that height. Today we share exclusive massing concepts of how the skyline would have looked if the towers were built to their originally planned height.

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