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. 

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 of the tower as it meets the street.

A 75-foot indoor pool located midway up the tower offers direct views of the Rafael Viñoly-designed Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, a 2,500-seat, barrel vault-topped complex from 2001. Other project amenities include a 36,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse, as well as 4,200 square feet of ground floor retail spaces. 

Eugene Kohn, KPF Chairman and Philadelphia native, said via press release, “We wanted to create an expression of luxury living in the
center of a vibrant, one-of-a-kind city – a beacon that signals the center of arts and music in Philadelphia," adding, "Every condominium itself is a piece of art that has its own unique story and offers a design aesthetic that is truly authentic to the Avenue of the Arts.”

The building is set to be completed by the end of 2021.