At last night’s Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites Design Challenge Reveal, SMP Architects, DIGSAU, and Charles Loomis Chariss McAfee Architects demonstrated both serious-minded and fun-loving ways to reinvigorate old industrial sites.



Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development, began the evening by observing that the city is “a mosaic of industrial use mixed with residential uses. That’s how Philadelphia was built.” Finding creative ways to repurpose these old industrial sites—many of them empty and underutilized, some of them spectacular—for modern industry is an opportunity for re-knitting Philly’s neighborhoods together.

The three projects addressed by the architects covered the gamut of Philadelphia industrial sites—a large, vacant waterfront parcel in need of environmental restoration;  a 19th century manufacturing complex, and the vacant wing of an actively-used old factory building.

We’ll share more about the projects soon. For now, here are some of the common themes that came out of the designs for these three very different sites:

Integrate industry with the community. Program opportunities into your project for neighbors to come on site, observe what’s being made, and learn to make things themselves.

Use our industrial legacy.  Incorporate the physical remnants and artifacts into your design and restore Philadelphia’s tradition of in-neighborhood fabrication.

Embrace urban ecology. Develop sites that encourage the new cleaner, quieter, and greener industries and attract their workforces with landscapes that restore and reconnect the city’s ecosystems.