Skyline massing

Ultra Labs at University City. Image via Scheer Partners

Floor Plans Revealed for Ultra Labs University City in University City, West Philadelphia

8:00 am on September 13, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Floor plans have been recently revealed for Ultra Labs University City at 125 North 32nd Street in University City, West Philadelphia. Developed by the Republic Properties and Scheer Partners, the structure will rise 190 feet and 19 stories tall and will contain 185,279 square feet of interior space. The mixed-use building will combine laboratory and office space, joining the many lab buildings located throughout University City.

PSFS Building unfinished design. Image via philadelphiabuildings.org

YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings Of The Unfinished PSFS Building Design

7:30 am on August 14, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Over the past few months, YIMBY has shared multiple publications on the PSFS Building covering its history and the process of the skyscraper’s design stage. The building is located at 1200 Market Street in Market East, Center City. Depending on the design, the structure may have ended up looking very differently if one of the past iterations went through. The building was designed by George Howe and William Edmond Lescaze, who originally weren’t partnered when George Howe created the first design. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY presents massing renderings of the PSFS Building when the design was nearly finalized, yet still unfinished.

Philadelphia skyline with unbuilt proposals looking northeast. Image and models by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Updated Massings Of The Unbuilt Philadelphia Skyline

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

In March, YIMBY shared exclusive renderings of the Philadelphia skyline featuring several unbuilt skyscrapers that would have made the city appear quite different from its current look. The conceptual massing shows the possibilities that never happened, though they remain archived by the original architects and now also by our publications. Numerous projects have been canceled in the city over the years, including the American Commerce Center, a tower once proposed in Center City that would have stood taller than the Comcast Technology Center. Today we present updated massing renderings of the Philadelphia skyline with many projects that remain unbuilt.

Fourth scheme of the PSFS Building. Image via George Howe and William Edmond Lescaze

YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the Fourth Design for the PSFS Building

7:30 am on August 5, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the past month, YIMBY has posted multiple publications on the PSFS Building and its history. The building stands at 1200 Market Street in Market East, Center City, with a height of 491 feet that dominates the local skyline even now, and did even more so when it was recently built. The tower was designed by George Howe and William Lescaze, who drew up several designs of the building prior to construction. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY shares the fourth iteration of the PSFS Building, which also had a physical model built.

Second scheme of the PSFS Building. Image via George Howe and William Edmond Lescaze

YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the Second Design for the PSFS Building

7:30 am on August 3, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In recent weeks, Philadelphia YIMBY has shared a series of publications on the historic PSFS Building at 1200 Market Street in Market East, Center City. Yesterday we looked in detail at the first iteration of the building designed by architects George Howe and William Lescaze, who partnered in 1929. In this feature, we present massing renderings of the second design. The roof height of the current building stands 491 feet above the ground, which is likely as high as the iterations analyzed here would have also risen.

First scheme of the PSFS Building. Image via George Howe

YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the First PSFS Building Design

7:30 am on August 2, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1920s, banks were looking for space in cities around the country as the economy boomed. In Philadelphia, multiple high-rises were under construction and in proposal stages as Center City was rapidly transforming. One of these financial institutions, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, was scouting the city for space for a new office building and eventually selected the site at 1200 Market Street, where the William Penn Charter School once stood. Architects George Howe and William Lescaze designed the PSFS Building, which stood as one of the most massive buildings in the skyline for decades. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY presents massing renderings of an early iteration of the that was drawn up in 1928.

YIMBY Presents Massing Animations of The Philadelphia Skyline Growth from 1985 to 1990

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

In recent months, YIMBY shared multiple publications covering the historical status of the Philadelphia skyline. Though our massing renderings have gone all the way back to when City Hall stood alone in the skyline, the modern skyline largely came into being around 30 years ago, when developers finally dared to pass its 548-foot-high William Penn Statue. Philadelphia YIMBY presents our custom animation of the Philadelphia skyline rising between the years 1985 and 1990, when Center City received some of its most iconic skyscrapers.

Philadelphia skyline 1905 and 1987 south elevation. Photo by Thomas Koloski

City Hall versus One Liberty Place: Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 1905 and the 1987 Skyline

7:30 am on July 22, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The 20th Century was a key period for development in Philadelphia, with numerous remarkable structures built in the 100-year time period. At the very start of the century, City Hall was finishing construction in the heart of the city, with the William Penn Statue was topped on the structure six years beforehand. The 548-foot masonry structure was completed in 1901. Flashing forward to 1987, an even more massive monolith was finishing construction: One Liberty Place in Center City, which stands 945 feet tall. Philadelphia YIMBY compares the time periods when the two giants dominated the skyline fresh upon completion.

Philadelphia 2020 and future south elevation. Models and image by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 2020 and the 2025 Skyline

8:00 am on July 13, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The Philadelphia skyline has generally maintained its aesthetically appealing, iconic look at least since its major outward and upward expansion in the 1980s. High-rise buildings stack up gradually to the tallest skyscraper in the city, the Comcast Technology Center, which, at 1,121 feet tall, is Philadelphia’s first supertall. A number of other large skyscrapers also rose during the recent construction boom. In the next four years and beyond, Center City and the surrounding neighborhoods will gain yet more tall high-rise buildings. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY compares the 2020 skyline to how it will likely look in 2025.

Philadelphia skyline 1969. Photo and edit by Thomas Koloski

YIMBY Presents Mockup Time Lapse of the Philadelphia Skyline from 1901 to 2020

8:00 am on July 11, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

YIMBY has presented extensive coverage on the development of the Philadelphia skyline over the decades. In its early years, church steeples, factory chimneys, and shot towers dominated the skyline, rising above numerous low-rise buildings. Office towers began to rise in the early twentieth century, as businesses flocked to Center City, and proliferated more rapidly in the following decades, particularly in the past 40 years. Today we present an animated rendering of the skyline, showing how the mass of skyscrapers had risen from 1901 to 2020. Each frame shows the towers under their current construction status for the year depicted.

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