Once a series of mercantile piers and industrial uses cut off from the city by Interstate 95, Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront has been the subject of numerous planning studies over five decades. The new Park at Penn’s Landing will reconnect Philadelphia to its river’s edge by constructing a transformational civic space at the heart of the city’s waterfront. The I-95 Central Access Philadelphia (CAP) project will guide pedestrians from city sidewalks to an 11.5-acre park with a series of public amenities and attractions.
Our scope of work includes the architectural design of the central pavilion which
will house and support several park amenities, including a café, skate rentals and support for the adjacent ice rink/summer plaza, and office space for the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) park operations team. It is projected to be Philadelphia’s first mass timber and net zero structure for public use.
The pavilion will provide a welcoming gateway to the waterfront and an iconic destination within the park. In addition to the fixed programs within the pavilion, the design will accommodate flexible special events and functions of varied scales and activity. The café will serve as both a public-facing amenity and a landmark connection to the park and waterfront.
The DRWC’s ambitious sustainability goals have enabled us to pursue a high-performance building design with a target goal of net zero energy consumption and net zero carbon. To support these sustainability goals, the project is targeting to meet both the LEED Platinum certification and Zero Carbon Certification through the International Living Future Institute.
