CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON 2500 LEAGUE ISLAND BOULEVARD

In the news! Construction has begun on 2500 League Island Boulevard. This new facility will provide a flexible work and production environment catered to the growing technology and cell therapy industry in Philadelphia at the Navy Yard. Developed by Gattuso Development Partners and constructed by Penntex Construction, this 130,000 sf flex building is the initial building within a 6.5-acre future campus that is focused on serving production needs while offering an imageable presence.

SITIO WELCOMES TODD GRANT!

SITIO welcomes Todd Grant to the team! During his Architecture and Building Science degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute he worked closely with engineers and material scientists to develop structures based on emerging technologies. He moved on to complete a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art where his love for collaboration crossed into the Art world. This fueled a passion for collective dialogue as part of the creation process.  With over two decades of experience Todd has embraced a wide variety of building uses, types, and approaches empowering teams from concept through delivery. 

In his spare time Todd and his wife have acquired, developed and manage several buildings including a commercial Arts building in their local community. He can also be found trying to keep up with his family at local rock-climbing gyms or hiking in Wissahickon Park.

SITIO MOVES TO NEW CENTER CITY LOCATION!

SITIO recently moved its new offices to 2104 Market Street. Located in the heart of the high-rise business district in Philadelphia,  SITIO occupies a unique location of the full top floor of a 3-story loft building. Our commitment to a central downtown location allows us to continue to engage the City while easily accessing our nearby projects. As we have emerged from the pandemic, our full team is back to the office, and we look forward to welcoming you – come visit!

SITIO WELCOMES AUDREY KRIEMAN!

SITIO welcomes Audrey Krieman to the team! A native Pennsylvanian and Penn State alumnus, Audrey is thrilled to return to Philadelphia after several years in New Haven, Connecticut where her work on landmark-scale commercial building projects furthered her commitment to design excellence. As the summer kicks off, Audrey is looking forward to exploring the local outdoors by tubing down the Brandywine and paddle boarding at Marsh Creek State Park!

SITE CLEARED FOR NEW LIFE SCIENCES FLEX PRODUCTION FACILITY

Site preparations are underway at 2500 League Island Boulevard for the creation of a new life sciences flex production facility located in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard. Developed by Gattuso Development Partners, designed by SITIO, and construction by Penntex, this 130,000 sf state-of-the-art facility is optimized for flexibility while providing a seamless transition from laboratory to production. Calibrated to accommodate a broad range of interdisciplinary exploration activities, its flexible layout combines research, office, manufacturing, and storage needs within one facility. This development contributes to the extensive growth of the bioscience and technology district at the Navy Yard, and Philadelphia’s leadership as a regional, national and international life sciences hub. 

SITIO UNVEILS NEW PROJECT IN FISHTOWN

The new 70-unit multi-family project in Philadelphia’s thriving Fishtown neighborhood is adjacent to the flourishing Frankford Ave corridor. The project stands at the corner of North Front Street and Columbia Avenue, connecting visually to the neighboring existing Box Lofts through a composition of brick volumes. The new building also physically links the existing building through a shared, glassy ground floor entry pavilion. This pavilion leads to a pocket-park courtyard garden, providing an oasis for the residents amongst its urban environment. A commercial space on the corner adds to the vitality and offerings of the neighborhood. This transformational project is being developed by 21 E Columbia Avenue Investors and is being constructed by Equinox Management & Construction. Ground breaking is scheduled for this summer.

SITIO PRINCIPAL KAREN BLANCHARD PANELIST FOR ULI PHILADELPHIA NATIONAL STUDY

SITIO principal Karen Blanchard served as a panelist on The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philadelphia’s national study on naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) created for the Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development. This collaboration with Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center for Housing, convened a 3-day study by panelist experts both locally and from across the country to create recommendations on preserving and supporting local affordable housing with the goal of protecting its affordability for current and future tenants. Following a presentation to stakeholders, ULI plans to release the final report in the upcoming weeks.

Panelists:

Karen Blanchard, SITIO architecture + urbanism

Chair: Mike Pitchford, Formerly Community Preservation and Development Corporation

Rodger Brown, Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc.

Jim Burnett, West Philadelphia Financial Skills Initiative

Anne Segrest McColloch, Housing Partnership Equity Trust

Tracey Nguyen, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

Phillip Payne, Lotus Campaign

Jonathan Weiss, Equinox Property Group

EASTON MIXED-USE PROJECT RECEIVES PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVAL

SITIO’s 101 South Third Street mixed-use project in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania received unanimous approval from the Easton Planning Commission this week.  This 11-story multifamily project contains 80 units and ground floor retail that tie it to the Third Street commercial corridor.  The building also shares the site with an existing bank building that will be retrofitted and extended to create a promenade along Ferry Street leading to a new mid-block pocket garden.  Developed by Matador Hospitality LLC, this project is the natural outgrowth of Easton’s renaissance as a strikingly gracious riverfront city within the economically thriving Lehigh Valley. 

SITIO'S ANDREW FERRARELLI PRESENTS AT AIA VIRGINIA EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM

SITIO’s Andrew Ferrarelli was a featured panelist for the Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) program of AIA Virginia on October 9th. As a member of the inaugural class of 2009, Andrew discussed the impact the program had on his career and shared advice with the class of 2020. The panel discussion focused on collaboration, the class project, presentations, and the continuing relationships formed during the program.

Now in its thirteenth year, ELA is an intensive program of educational sessions structured around presentations, discussions, team exploration, analysis, consensus-building, collaboration, and case study activities undertaken over the course of a year by a small cadre of participants selected for their potential to be outstanding contributors to the profession and the community. Facilitators and mentors who are established leaders in the building, finance, non-profit, development, university, legal, consulting, and design professions and in the community at large develop and deliver the sessions, designed to provide participants with advanced knowledge and skills related to specific areas of leadership and practice.

SITIO PRINCIPAL KAREN BLANCHARD JURIES AIA COLUMBUS CHAPTER DESIGN AWARDS

SITIO principal Karen Blanchard joined a distinguished jury for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chapter of Columbus Annual Design Awards. As the largest chapter in Ohio, the design awards recognize excellence in architectural design by Columbus architects and those within the boundaries of AIA Columbus.  Awards are given in achievements that elevate the quality of architectural practice, demonstrates excellence in performance, and establishes design excellence that improves the built environment. Awards will be unveiled at a virtual ceremony this November.

The jury was Philadelphia based and included:

Karen Blanchard, AIA - SITIO architecture + urbanism

Jules Dingle, FAIA – DIGSAU

Billie Faircloth, AIA – KieranTimberlake, Jury Chair

Fatima Olivieri, AIA – KieranTimberlake

Eric Oskey, AIA – Moto Designshop

POOKS HILL, 562-UNIT RESIDENTIAL TOWERS IN BETHESDA, MD RECEIVES PLANNING APPROVAL & ENTERS FINAL DESIGN PHASE

The Maryland-National Capital Parks & Planning Commission has unanimously approved plans for Pooks Hill, a two-tower, 562-unit residential complex in the metropolitan Washington, DC neighborhood of Bethesda, MD, adjoining the Headquarters campus of the National Institutes of Health.  With that, SITIO, serving as the Designer and Architect of Record for the project, enters the final design and construction documents phase for the project with its multidisciplinary team of collaborators. Exeter Property Group, a leading national real estate owner and operator, is the developer.   

The unique character of the development draws on the topography and lush vegetation of the Pooks Hill conservation area it adjoins, to create a sophisticated living environment that complements the wild natural side of the site with the urbane character of its contemporary architecture and open spaces.  Construction is slated to begin early Summer of 2021 for occupancy in the Summer of 2023. 

ULI GLOBAL OPEN SPACE AWARDS JURY CHAIR ANTONIO FIOL-SILVA COMMENTS ON WINNERS

Two urban parks—one in Brooklyn, New York, and the other in Wellston, Missouri—have been selected as winners of the 2020 ULI Urban Open Space Award. The award recognizes outstanding examples of vibrant public open spaces that have been instrumental in promoting healthy, sustainable, and equitable outcomes in communities.  “Equitably accessible quality open spaces are increasingly understood as vital to the physical, social, and economic health of urban neighborhoods,” says Antonio Fiol-Silva, jury chairman and founding principal of SITIO architecture + urbanism in Philadelphia. “In their own particular contexts, Domino and Trojan parks are two brilliant examples of the profoundly positive impact that such spaces can have in the lives of their communities. That both civic spaces are the product of private-sector initiatives makes them even more remarkable.”

Domino Park is part of the critical transformation of the former Domino Sugar Factory site into a vibrant mixed-use space within an area that previously had one of the lowest ratios of open space to people in the city. Inspired by community input and the site’s rich history, the five-acre (2 ha) park reconnects the Williamsburg neighborhood to the East River for the first time in 160 years.

Trojan Park is a one-acre (0.4 ha) community park in Wellston, Missouri, that gets an estimated 20,000 visitors per year. It is a key destination as part of the St. Vincent Greenway, which stretches across four towns in the St. Louis region, connecting major parks, schools and universities, public transit, job centers, and neighborhoods.

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