PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

Art Commission has approved quite a few projects:

Discovery Center at East Park Reservoir - Fairmount Park


Headhouse Plaza - Society Hill


American Street Plaza - Olde Kensington


Holocaust Memorial - Central Business District/Ben Franklin Parkway


Read more here:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2017/04/0...r-discovery-center-in-strawberry-mansion

[shadowbat2]

UPenn work:
Untitled by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Untitled by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Untitled by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

[shadowbat2]

Gallery update:
Gallery II 4/5/17 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Gallery II 4/5/17 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

What used to be Old Navy:
Gallery II 4/5/17 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

What used to be the atrium:
Gallery I 4/5/17 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Ninth Street:
Untitled by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Untitled by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

9th and Market 4/5/17 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

[Fairmount2Fishtown]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

Not sure if this is a concept or an official rendering, but look at this!

Everything I've seen and heard had been a North/South facing stadium. Will check back in on this though.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Art Commission has approved quite a few projects:
Headhouse Plaza - Society Hill

Where can I find more info on this? Everything I'm getting through google is an old design from 2015.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ I hope whatever is approved looks better than that. Headhouse Square is too beautiful to plop down glass shards. This isn't exactly Pei's Louvre pyramid.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^ I hope whatever is approved looks better than that. Headhouse Square is too beautiful to plop down glass shards. This isn't exactly Pei's Louvre pyramid.

Right!? I think that looks like crap! We need something a little more stately there.

[Nova08]

I agree. Headhouse generally has a "colonial" architecture and this glass whatever looks out of place. In the previous proposals weren't they also looking to replace the Headhouse "canopy" between Lombard and Pine? Or were the proposals always for the Lombard to South block? Frankly they should get rid of the parking. It's a great space and the parking kills the vibe between Lombard and South.

[Boku]

Developer pays $1.4M for S. Kensington site with plan for apartments, townhouses

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...s-townhouses-buys-S-Kensington-site.html

40 apartments and 14 townhomes.



The site currently: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.976796,-...n0jw9qD-BdrPw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Nova08

I agree. Headhouse generally has a "colonial" architecture and this glass whatever looks out of place.

Sorry, this attitude is so provincial. Surely you don't dislike the Society Hill Towers? They're not colonial but they sure as heck are iconic.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by McBane

Sorry, this attitude is so provincial. Surely you don't dislike the Society Hill Towers? They're not colonial but they sure as heck are iconic.

This is part of why we get so many boring buildings. Some people want nothing but red brick and some people want avant garde. What we end up with is buildings that try not to offend anyone. Developers have an added financial incentive to make sure buildings aren't exciting.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by McBane

Sorry, this attitude is so provincial. Surely you don't dislike the Society Hill Towers? They're not colonial but they sure as heck are iconic.

I am guessing that people think this is proposed for the block between Pine and Lombard as opposed to between Lombard and South. This glass canopy over a brick walk will replace two rows of slanted parking that faces a Wawa located in the bottom of a 1990's apartment building. There is nothing colonial about any of that.

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by PHL10

I am guessing that people think this is proposed for the block between Pine and Lombard as opposed to between Lombard and South. This glass canopy over a brick walk will replace two rows of slanted parking that faces a Wawa located in the bottom of a 1990's apartment building. There is nothing colonial about any of that.

The parking will remain. The median on the South Street side will be widened to accommodate the open shade canopy. The median on the Lombard st. side will also be widened to allow for more space around the fountain. There will still be parking between the two.

That is until the Art Commission OK’d the latest design Wednesday, which preserves the plaza’s 40 parking spots while also improving lighting, plantings, public safety, community space, and traffic calming measures.

Either way, I'll take any improvement on that block over the current design. And I agree, the long ago built Wawa and generic apartment building don't help anything. Honestly the biggest issue I have is not with the open air canopies on both ends of the block, but the fact that the 40 parking spots remain.

A little bit more information and another rendering
Headhouse Plaza Project Update
http://southstreet.com/headhouse-plaza-project-update/

[Knight Hospitaller]

I wasn't arguing that the glass shed for HH Square had to be colonial. It's just crap. IM Pei's Louvre pyramid works. This shard doesn't.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Parkway

This is part of why we get so many boring buildings. Some people want nothing but red brick and some people want avant garde. What we end up with is buildings that try not to offend anyone. Developers have an added financial incentive to make sure buildings aren't exciting.

^^^
Agreed. It is exactly why we need more thoughtful design than this. It doesn't have to be red brick and cobblestone. That's one end of the spectrum. The other end is this design - over-the-top glass and steel. The middle doesn't have to suck.

Great example? The Alexander. That is a stately throwback if ever there was one and everyone is (rightfully) messing themselves over that building. That's an example of how to do it right. I don't see a problem with trying to hit a target that pleases most. It's what ALL great architecture strives for IMO.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Redddog

^^^
Agreed. It is exactly why we need more thoughtful design than this. It doesn't have to be red brick and cobblestone. That's one end of the spectrum. The other end is this design - over-the-top glass and steel. The middle doesn't have to suck.

Great example? The Alexander. That is a stately throwback if ever there was one and everyone is (rightfully) messing themselves over that building. That's an example of how to do it right. I don't see a problem with trying to hit a target that pleases most. It's what ALL great architecture strives for IMO.

I disagree with your example. Although I love the Alexander, it really is nothing more than a 1920-30 Art Deco knock off to my eyes, albeit a well executed one. There is nothing middle ground about it - it's as faux historic as any other time period an architect may want to copy. If we are naming apartment buildings, perhaps 1706 Ritt might be a good example of middle ground - classic proportions with some classic materials, such as stone but modern in detail and function.

[EastSideHBG]

Brewerytown, set to be Philly's next hot neighborhood, experiences growing pains
Updated: APRIL 7, 2017 — 4:00 AM EDT
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...borhood-to-experience-growing-pains.html

[FourS]

Does anyone know what's planned for 43rd and Chestnut? They are digging a mighty big hole there with nothing posted and I haven't heard anything.

[Groundhog]

Progress at Lincoln Square this morning:

[1487]

Exterior work on the Hale building is FINALLY underway. A platform is hanging off the side with guys doing cleaning/restoration of the facade facing east.