Posted Sep 13, 2022, 8:39 PM
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CHOP’s new bird-proofed skyscraper will focus on vaccine and genetics research
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The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is growing its footprint on the east side of the Schuylkill River, adding a second high rise next to the 20-story Roberts Center for Pediatric Research.
At 14-stories, the new Schuylkill Avenue Research Building will provide a complement to the existing tower by offering a distinct form of research space. CHOP is searching for a sponsor to christen the structure, as the Roberts family of Comcast fame did for its neighbor.
The new building will add 250,000 square feet of “wet lab” space, a term for laboratories used to research biological or chemical subjects. Across its real estate holdings, CHOP already provides 800,000 square feet of wet lab space, but the Roberts Center is focused on administrative and meeting space as well as “dry labs” that are more focused on patient trials and computational or policy work.
“At this campus we will be looking at opportunities for new cell and gene therapies and ways to develop vaccines or target the immune system to promote health,” said Sue Furth, CHOP’s chief scientific officer. “It’ll be a next-generation research campus totally dedicated to improving the health of children. Philadelphia is really up and coming in this area, just after Boston.”
The plan for the new structure was created by the international architecture firm Cannon Design and it won plaudits when presented to Philadelphia’s Civic Design Review board, a municipally-appointed team of architects and planners who review large real estate developments.
The building will include 33,000 square feet of office space and 6,500 square feet of retail space, with an eatery or cafe planned with an entrance near the South Street Bridge. The Roberts building currently hosts an establishment called the Waterfront Cafe that is open to the public, but CHOP acknowledges that its existence is little known to those who don’t work for the institution.
They hope the new cafe, which will be visible from the street, will prove a boon to the public, add more amenities to the surrounding residential area, and provide a space for collaboration for CHOP workers.
The Schuylkill Avenue Research Building will look similar to the Roberts Center, but with darker materials and lighting. The designers drew from lessons learned from the previous building about the toll that glassy skyscrapers like these can take on avian life. Ornithologists believe that between 350 million and a billion birds die each year in the United States because the reflective glass confuses them, and they fly into the buildings at top speed.
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Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20220913.html
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