Construction work is wrapping up on Penn’s New College House West, located in University City, West Philadelphia. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the tower rises 12 stories tall at Walnut Street and five stories along Locust Walk. The structure is the University of Pennsylvania‘s latest student dormitory, which will house 450 rooms within 250,000 square feet of space.
Completion of construction is approaching rapidly at Seven Tower Bridge, a large office development situated by the Schuylkill River in Conshohocken, northwest of Philadelphia. The main tower stands 14 stories tall, holds 250,000 square feet of office space, and sits atop an 820-car parking garage podium which allows the building to reach a greater height than it would have otherwise. Amenities will include a two-story marble lobby, a gym, and a riverside café.
A month ago, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia unveiled two new towers that are part of a $3.4 billion plan that will add considerable bulk to the University City skyline in West Philadelphia. On the University City side, the University-City-Tower at the presumed address 3401 Civic Center Boulevard will rise across the street from the CHOP Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care at 3500 Civic Center Boulevard. On the Southwest Center City side, 690 Schuylkill Avenue will stand to the northeast of the CHOP Robert’s Center for Advanced Research as the tower, right next to the iconic South Street Bridge.
The large GIANT supermarket located on the first two levels of the Riverwalk north tower at 60 North 23rd Street has officially opened, bringing a new shopping hub to Center City West. Designed by Gensler and developed by PMC Property Group, the tower stands prominent at the Schuylkill River Trail, and the way the façade takes in daylight in a dramatic fashion, with metal cladding manipulating creating different shades. The two-tower project will have 711 units, and the shorter north tower will have 331 units above the podium floors. The tower, which replaces a large parking lot, stands 315 feet tall and 28 stories above ground.
While Philadelphia did not build massive art deco skyscrapers in the 1920s, there still were buildings that were constructed with fantastic designs in Center City such as The Drake at 1512 Spruce Street. The tower rises 33 floors above ground and stands at an impressive height of 375 feet. The tower was designed by Verus Shay and Howell Lewis Shay of the architectural firm Ritter and Shay, who have designed a building with such an incredible design with a wide profile when viewed from the east and west. The north and south profile is incredibly thin, with brickwork running up to the angled and curved tops of the Art Deco and Spanish Baroque design. The structure was constructed by Murphy, Quigley Company and was completed in 1929.
