One Liberty Place from Cira Green. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Designing One Liberty Place, the Tower that Transformed Philadelphia’s Skyline

One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street is an intricately designed skyscraper has dominated the skyline of Center City for over three decades. Designed by Murphy/Jahn and developed by Rouse and Associates, the tower is clad in a pattern of stone, metal, and glass that rises up to the angled crown and the thin spire. The tower first rose to its final 61-story height in the beginning of 1987, when the top floor was assembled beneath the future spire. Philly YIMBY looks back at the design process by architect Helmut Jahn via drawings from 1984, which show multiple design iterations.

Read More


Permits Issued for a Five-Unit Structure at 521 North 41st Street in West Powelton, West Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of a four-story, five-unit multi-family structure at 521 North 41st Street in West Powelton, West Philadelphia. The 7,187-square-foot development will feature a roof deck with two access structures. Kevin O’Neill is the project designer and Tester Construction is the contractor. Construction costs are estimated at $850,000.

Read More

uCity Square rendering aerial via State of University City Report

Phase Two of uCity Square Awaits Construction in University City, West Philadelphia

The seven buildings that comprise the uCity Square project in University City, West Philadelphia, are under various stages of progress, with three currently under construction and four more still under planning, to be built in the next phase. The proposed towers will effectively surround One uCity Square, flanking the building to the south and to the west and creating an extraordinarily dense cluster of buildings. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects and developed by Ventas Incorporated, uCity Square will bring 6.5 million square feet of mixed-use space spread across the 14-acre site. The three buildings will stand on North 38th Street, with the hotel proposed at the corner of North 37th Street and Filbert Street, and will rise 23, 18, 15, and 14 stories.

Read More