Date: in Progress

Through Westpark Community Partners, the development group formed by LMXD and MSquared just for the Westpark Redevelopment project, a Philadelphia Housing Authority campus will be transformed into a 1,000-unit, densified, mixed-income development through the renovation of three high-rise apartment buildings and infill of mid-rise buildings and townhouses. For the first phase of approximately 350 units, a landscape of public gathering spaces, dedicated resident spaces, and a new multi-modal street grid weave through the campus, integrating the various scales and programs of the buildings into a cohesive neighborhood.

A new public plaza and seating terraces will welcome the community at Market Street, opening the site to the adjacent subway station and commercial corridor. The heart of the campus, approximately 25 feet above Market Street, will be accessible for the first time by way of a hillside path—offering a meandering experience reminiscent of the site’s history as a healing landscape. A flowing sequence of outdoor rooms will thread through the campus, beginning with an entry courtyard and play garden embraced by stormwater landscapes, then unfolding into a broad green lawn, a grove of shaded seating, and a welcoming deck at the foot of the first newly renovated tower. As a cost-conscious project concerned with environmental impact, the existing stone walls will be reused as grade-retaining gabions, and a constrained paving palette will mark a connective route through the site. A robust tree and native planting strategy will replace biomass and contribute to the city’s biodiversity while focusing on species that will successfully adapt to the urban conditions.

Team members: Erdy McHenry Architecture; Inglese Architecture + Engineering; IMEG Design Engineers; Langan Engineering; Hines, Inc.

https://www.theolinstudio.com/westpark-redevelopment