“The most powerful factor shaping the look of Philadelphia neighborhoods isn’t architectural style, and it isn’t money. It’s the city’s street grid. It literally keeps our buildings from stepping out of line.
…that’s what makes the diminutive newcomer at 39th and Chestnut such a delightful surprise. It’s an ordinary building, wedged in the middle of the grid, and yet it is an object building all the same, thanks to its assertive attitude and appealing sculptural form.”
Designed by Sergio Coscia of Coscia Moos Architecture, and constructed by H.C. Pody Company, the sharply angled, glass-and-metal structure was inserted into the former courtyard of Hamilton Court, an early-20th-century hotel that long ago was converted into student apartments. Just two stories, it was built to house a gym, pool and sun deck for the apartment building.
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