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KPF's first residential tower in Philadelphia, Arthaus, tops out

2021-02-24T15:35:00-05:00

After breaking ground on its first residential high-rise in Philadelphia in June 2019, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates now celebrated the topping out with developer Dranoff Properties. Dubbed Arthaus, the 47-story glass-and-steel tower sits on Avenue of the Arts vis-à-vis the city's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

View from The Union League of Philadelphia. Photo: Thomas Koloski.

KPF Chairman Eugene Kohn said: "As a Philadelphia native, I feel immensely proud of this project. Arthaus is a major addition to the city skyline, marking the Arts District from afar [...]."

View from South 17th Street and Pine Street. Photo: Thomas Koloski.

"In plan, units are organized in a pinwheel shape around a central core, allowing each residence to occupy a corner of the building," explains the project description. "With large windows and two exposures, every apartment is flooded with natural light and offers panoramic views of the Avenue of the Arts, the Philadelphia skyline, the Delaware and Sch...

KPF's first residential tower in Philly is on the way

2019-06-14T15:06:00-04:00

New York City-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) have broken ground on their first high-rise residential project in Philadelphia.

The 47-story glass-and-steel monolith, called Arthaus by developer Dranoff Properties, is designed as a bundled mass made up of four towers that each rise to a different height. A mini-skyline set against the city's eclectic collection of pinnacled and flat-topped office towers, Arthaus features different compositional approaches for each of its many exposures. In some planes, the building's horizontal floor plates are accented with white aluminum paneling, for example, while adjacent facades deploy the same materials in much thinner proportions as vertical mullions.

Courtesy of KPF

Interior view. Courtesy of KPF

The design also allows for the collection of discrete but interconnected rooftop spaces located at the top of the 108-unit tower. Along the lower levels, terra cotta panels wrap wide, horizontal masses that break down the scale o...