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

BIM and Information Technology | Mar 28, 2017

Digital tools accelerated the design and renovation of one contractor’s new office building

One shortcut: sending shop drawings created from laser scans directly to a wood panel fabricator.

Office Buildings | Mar 27, 2017

New York warehouse to become an office mixing industrial and modern aesthetics

The building is located in West Chelsea between the High Line and West Street.

Office Buildings | Mar 24, 2017

Brookfield expands its ‘office of the future’ brand to Houston

The developer engaged four design firms to come up with unique suites it will market under its DesignHive label. 

Office Buildings | Mar 21, 2017

Fruit company’s HQ acts as an oasis among surrounding industrial processing yards

Graham Baba Architects designed the project around a central, landscaped courtyard.

Office Buildings | Mar 20, 2017

The new workplace: More than a generational issue

Today’s workplace requires designers and employers to look holistically at the organization’s culture, its criteria for success, and its place in the world.

Office Buildings | Mar 7, 2017

Large creative office projects generate staggering returns for property investors

A new Transwestern report examines the adaptive reuse trend across the U.S.

Office Buildings | Mar 2, 2017

White paper from Perkins Eastman and Three H examines how design can inform employee productivity and wellbeing

This paper is the first in a planned three-part series of studies on the evolution of diverse office environments and how the contemporary activity-based workplace (ABW) can be uniquely tailored to support a range of employee personalities, tasks and work modes.

Office Buildings | Mar 2, 2017

Office renovation and addition give new life to a section of Huntsville, Ala.

The newly opened Freedom Center, near Redstone Arsenal, includes a 10,000-sf conference center.

Office Buildings | Feb 24, 2017

The sun’s rays helped shape this Studio Gang-designed NYC tower

Solar Carve Tower advances Studio Gang’s ‘solar carving’ design strategy.

Office Buildings | Feb 16, 2017

Bjarke Ingels Group wins competition to design S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory

The factory will immerse employees and visitors in nature from all sides.

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