TAILOR MADE

Philadelphia has experienced a major multi-family housing boom in the past decade, with hundreds of mid-rise podium buildings adding thousands of units of density to the city’s neighborhood fabric. While this trend has contributed in important ways to building the city’s supply of attainable housing, too often the buildings themselves feel generic, expressing their modest budgets and maximized zoning envelopes more than their local context and on-the-ground experience. The site plan and entry experience for this 49-unit, 5-story mixed-use multifamily were inspired by the site’s K-shaped geometry and adjacent edges. Sandwiched between a sunken railroad right-of-way, a historic brick industrial building, and a new neighborhood school, the building’s context contributed to its unique character.


FITTING IN

The building’s plan infills the site with a simple rectilinear volume aligned to the street and a carved, folded edge painted a vibrant orange hue facing its odd-shaped neighbor to the north. Rather than situate the building’s lobby in a typical street-facing position, residents are invited down a playfully shaped side alley lined on one side by the historic exterior brick wall of the adjacent building. The character of the new building’s colorful inner facade is set against this masonry texture, generating an entry experience deeply rooted in place.


FRESH CUT

Beyond the small commercial space at the building’s open corner, residents pass through a gate to enter the building’s lobby in the middle of the site. The narrow path expands and contracts, winding around a corner to reveal a social lounge and shared hidden garden wrapped within the texture of the adjacent building and the overgrown railway bed at the rear. The building’s exterior entry and ground floor social spaces are complemented by a landscaped rooftop amenity space with built-in benches, planters and shared kitchen, taking advantage of the site’s skyline views.