Rouse and Associates

Worker on top Two Liberty Place. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Observing the Construction of Two Liberty Place

8:00 am on September 19, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

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.

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

7:30 am on September 18, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

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.

Unfinished Liberty Place design model. Photo from Helmut Jahn

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

8:00 am on September 16, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

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.

One Liberty Place Rainbow animated scheme from South Street. Photo by Thomas Koloski

My Liberty Lights Program Is Underway at One Liberty Place

7:30 am on August 30, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Over the course of the past two years, the decorative illumination at the crown of One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street in Center City has been under renovation, as it is being upgraded with powerful lights that can be animated into various schemes and colors. Designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn and developed by Rouse and Associates (later known as the Liberty Property Trust), the tower was completed in 1987 and stands 945 feet and 61 stories tall. The contractor for the illumination upgrade is The Lighting Practice, which has also decorated the W/Element Hotel. The new lighting system is integrated with the My Liberty Lights program, which allows certain users to change the exterior lights atop the building once per day for a duration of five minutes.

A Look at Early Iterations of Liberty Place When It Was Planned to Rise Under 500 Feet in Height

7:30 am on August 23, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The Liberty Place complex in Center City is known for being the first building in Philadelphia to dramatically break the unofficial 548-foot height limit that was set by the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall. Upon completion, One and Two Liberty Place were the tallest skyscrapers on the skyline, standing at a height of 945 and 848 feet, respectively. The towers were designed by Helmut Jahn and developed by Rouse and Associates, which eventually became Liberty Property Trust. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY takes a look back at a number of early iterations of the complex when the towers were planned to stand around or under 500 feet in height.

Two Liberty Place from One Liberty Place. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Looking at Two Liberty Place, Philadelphia’s Fourth-Tallest Building, in Center City

8:00 am on June 8, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The majority of the skyscrapers that dominate the Philadelphia skyline are the trophy towers that were built in the late 1980s. One of these buildings is the 848-foot-tall, 58-story Two Liberty Place at 50 South 16th Street in Center City, the city’s fourth-tallest building. The skyscraper is a part of the Liberty Place complex that consists of two towers connected by a mall and a hotel. The skyscraper was designed by Helmut Jahn, who also designed buildings such as MesseTurm in Frankfurt, Germany, 50 West Street in New York City, and the Bank of America Tower in Jacksonville, Florida, among many others. The developer of the project was Rouse and Associates, which eventually transformed into Liberty Property Trust, which built both of the Comcast skyscrapers that today dominate the skyline.

Philadelphia skyline lit up from South Philadelphia. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Observing the New Lighting Schemes in the Philadelphia Skyline

7:30 am on May 20, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Last month, Philadelphia YIMBY reported on new lighting schemes that are decorating the nighttime skyline. Though it was already known that One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street and the W/Element Hotel at 1441 Chestnut Street, both located in Center City, are having their lighting tested, both now feature together in the skyline, with new programming visible to the residents of the city. The lights on One Liberty Place, which used to be dimmer and had sections of the lighting noticeably lit a different color, the lights have now been fixed and brightened. The W/Element Hotel used to be a dark skyscraper in the night time skyline with just the aviation warning lights noticeable, but now the skyscraper is lit up nearly as much as the FMC Tower in University City.

One Liberty Place elevation and Helmut Jahn. Photo and image via JAHN

As the World Remembers Helmut Jahn, One Liberty Place Lights Up the Skyline

8:00 am on May 10, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY often shares exciting and uplifting news regarding the city and its development. However, on May 8th, in Chicago, world-renowned architect Helmut Jahn was tragically killed in a road incident not far from his eponymous firm. According to the press, Jahn was biking near his home, 40 miles away from Chicago, when he was struck by two vehicles and was pronounced dead the next day at 81 years old. The architect was born on January 4, 1940 in Zindorf, Germany, and has designed an incredible amount of buildings between 1974 and 2017. In his lifetime, Jahn has produced unique and awe-inspiring designs throughout the world, which stood out as ahead of their time, and has left a dramatic imprint on the Philadelphia skyline.

One Liberty Place and the W/Element Hotel lit up from New Jersey. Photo by Thomas Koloski

New Lighting Schemes Decorate Philadelphia Skyline at Night

8:00 am on April 29, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Since the late 1980s, Philadelphia’s Center City skyscrapers featured appealing decorative lighting schemes. The first tower to be lit up was One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street, completed in 1987, with lights accentuating the angled crown and the sharp spire. Over the years more high-rises towers were constructed that also displayed standout nighttime lighting, with one of the biggest recent additions being the Comcast Technology Center with its massive lantern at the top. Even more recent was the W/Element Hotel at 1441 Chestnut Street, where intensive testing of its the decorative lighting started just a few months ago.

One and Two Liberty Place. Photo By Thomas Koloski

Designing the Tower at Two Liberty Place

8:00 am on March 30, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Two Liberty Place at 50 South 16th Street in Center City is a 848-foot-tall skyscraper similar in style to the complex’s anchor tower One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street, with its floor boosted by an extension on the north side of the structure. Designed by Murphy/Jahn and developed by Willard G. Rouse III of Rouse and Associates, the tower was erected in 1988 and stands 58 stories tall. Philly YIMBY looks at the design process through drawings by Helmut Jahn that date to 1986.

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