flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

BIG’s design for Philadelphia Navy Yard defies gravity

Office Buildings

BIG’s design for Philadelphia Navy Yard defies gravity

The optical illusion was inspired by the circular running track of the park adjacent to the site.


By BD+C Staff | July 15, 2015
BIG’s design for Philadelphia Navy Yard defies gravity

The new structure will be part of a new mixed-use campus on Philadelphia’s historic Navy Yard. Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group + Luxigon.

Ground has broken for 1200 Interpid, a 94,000-sf office building designed by BIG at Philadelphia’s historic Navy Yard, ArchDaily reports. The project is commissioned by Liberty Property Trust and will mark the developer’s 14th project at Navy Yards, a 1200-acre office park.

Inhabitat describes the building’s design as “an optical illusion,” as the four-story structure appears to be leaning. To date, only rendering’s of the building’s exterior have been circulated.

The $35 million project will be built adjacent to a five-acre park called Central Green. BIG’s gravity-defying structure will be part of a mixed-used campus being developed by Liberty Property Trust.

From the architects:

“1200 Interpid will be a LEED Gold office building shaped by the encounter between Robert Stern’s master plan of rectangular city blocks and James Corner’s iconic, circular Central Green Park.

The building’s double curved, pre-cast concrete façade bows inwards to create a generous urban canopy that responds to the ‘shock wave’ of the park’s circular running track, activity pods, and planting vignettes—rippling outwards like rings in water to invade the building’s footprint. Shaped by the city grid, the cornice and remaining elevations return to the orthogonal design of the master plan, forming the building’s double curve and melding the neighborhood’s two dominant forms.

Referencing the Navy Yard’s maritime history while providing much needed natural light, a functioning periscope penetrates the core of the building, projecting views of the Navy Yard basin into the center of the elevator lobby. Visitors and employees will be able to admire the mothballed ships sitting in the adjacent docks, while embracing Central Green Park—connecting the building and its inhabitants to their surroundings.”

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

Related Stories

Mixed-Use | Sep 20, 2023

Tampa Bay Rays, Hines finalize deal for a stadium-anchored multiuse district in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball team announced that it has reached an agreement with St. Petersburg and Pinellas County on a $6.5 billion, 86-acre mixed-use development that will include a new 30,000-seat ballpark and an array of office, housing, hotel, retail, and restaurant space totaling 8 million sf.

Giants 400 | Sep 18, 2023

Top 90 Office Building Engineering Firms for 2023

Jacobs, WSP, Alfa Tech, and AECOM head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest office building sector engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all office building work, including core and shell projects and workplace/interior fitouts.   

Giants 400 | Sep 18, 2023

Top 120 Office Building Construction Firms for 2023

Turner Construction, STO Building Group, AECOM, and DPR Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest office building sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all office building work, including core and shell projects and workplace/interior fitouts.  

Giants 400 | Sep 18, 2023

Top 200 Office Building Architecture Firms for 2023

Gensler, Stantec, HOK, and Interior Architects top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest office building sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all office building work, including core and shell projects and workplace/interior fitouts. 

Adaptive Reuse | Sep 15, 2023

Salt Lake City’s Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse will transform into a modern workplace for federal agencies

In downtown Salt Lake City, the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse is being transformed into a modern workplace for about a dozen federal agencies. By providing offices for agencies previously housed elsewhere, the adaptive reuse project is expected to realize an annual savings for the federal government of up to $6 million in lease costs.

Office Buildings | Sep 14, 2023

New York office revamp by Kohn Pedersen Fox features new façade raising occupant comfort, reducing energy use

The modernization of a mid-century Midtown Manhattan office tower features a new façade intended to improve occupant comfort and reduce energy consumption. The building, at 666 Fifth Avenue, was originally designed by Carson & Lundin. First opened in November 1957 when it was considered cutting-edge, the original façade of the 500-foot-tall modernist skyscraper was highly inefficient by today’s energy efficiency standards.

Designers | Sep 5, 2023

Optimizing interior design for human health

Page Southerland Page demonstrates how interior design influences our mood, mental health, and physical comfort.

Office Buildings | Aug 31, 2023

About 11% of U.S. office buildings could be suitable for green office-to-residential conversions

A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from researchers at New York University and Columbia Business School indicates that about 11% of U.S. office buildings may be suitable for conversion to green multifamily properties.

Adaptive Reuse | Aug 31, 2023

New York City creates team to accelerate office-to-residential conversions

New York City has a new Office Conversion Accelerator Team that provides a single point of contact within city government to help speed adaptive reuse projects. Projects that create 50 or more housing units from office buildings are eligible for this new program. 

Office Buildings | Aug 25, 2023

A new white paper explores the pros and cons of office building conversions  

Produced by SGA and Colliers, the paper charts considerations for 14 building types.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.


MFPRO+ News

San Francisco unveils guidelines to streamline office-to-residential conversions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced a series of new building code guidelines clarifying adaptive reuse code provisions and exceptions for converting office-to-residential buildings. Developed in response to the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse program established in July 2023, the guidelines aim to increase the viability of converting underutilized office buildings into housing by reducing regulatory barriers in specific zoning districts downtown. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021