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Arthaus, KPF’s First Residential Tower in Philadelphia, Tops Out

The condominium tower presents a cohesive aesthetic experience for residents, offering a clean and contemporary look from its striking form to its carefully-crafted interiors.

On Friday, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) celebrated the topping out of Arthaus with developer Dranoff Properties. The firm’s first residential tower in Philadelphia, the 47-story Arthaus is located along the famed Avenue of the Arts directly across the street from the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. KPF designed every aspect of the building, including the amenity spaces and all 108 residences.

“As a Philadelphia native, I feel immensely proud of this project,” said Eugene Kohn, KPF Chairman. “Arthaus is a major addition to the city skyline, marking the Arts District from afar, and is a testament to the vision and hard work of the entire team, led by Carl Dranoff. This building’s design is elegant and well-detailed, and thanks to many collaborators, its construction and execution have progressed seamlessly despite the challenging times. Arthaus is a success in every way.”

Arthaus’ design is inspired by its context, with a glass façade, vertical expression, and an orthogonal massing of four bundled rectangular volumes. At the base of Arthaus, brick and terra cotta feature walls along Broad and Spruce Streets relate to the material language of the neighborhood, while the tower’s high-performing glass façade is detailed with white aluminum mullions that add texture and variety.

In plan, units are organized in a pinwheel shape around a central core, allowing each residence to occupy a corner of the building. With large windows and two exposures, every apartment is flooded with natural light and offers panoramic views of the Avenue of the Arts, the Philadelphia skyline, the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, and beyond. The tower’s broad spans and well-integrated structure enabled more freedom with unit layouts, creating large, open-plan living spaces that incorporate kitchen, dining, and living areas. Each unit also features an eight-foot-deep by sixteen-foot-wide balcony, sheltered by a wind screen, creating a private outdoor room for residents. On the upper floors, the interlocking boxes of Arthaus’ massing rise to different heights, providing larger outdoor terraces for penthouse units while creating a distinctive tower top on the Philadelphia skyline.

“It’s been very exciting to see Arthaus take shape since the project broke ground a year and a half ago,” said Josh Chaiken, KPF Design Principal. “Now that it has topped out, you can see how the tower anchors its location on Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The entire team at Dranoff, KPF, and on site is doing a wonderful job seeing the project through as it gets built.”

The spacious, light-filled residences are contemporary in their design, with clean lines, elegant finishes, and top-quality fixtures. Wide-plank oak flooring runs throughout each unit, including in the kitchen, which features marble or quartz countertops, Poggenpohl cabinets, and Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances. The kitchens are defined by large islands with breakfast bars, and a two-toned color scheme combining grey walnut lower cabinets with matte white volumetric cabinets above. Primary bedroom suites feature five-fixture bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling stone, integrated lighting, and sweeping views.

“We are excited to be celebrating the topping out of Arthaus with Dranoff Properties, a major milestone on a journey that we started with Carl and Julia several years ago,” said Lloyd Sigal, KPF Managing Principal. ‘Through great teamwork and collaboration with Dranoff and the project team, we are proud that Arthaus is now even closer to achieving our goal of creating a great residential tower. When complete, Arthaus will be an important icon on the Avenue of the Arts, complementing the Kimmel Center and the neighborhood, while taking its place on the Philadelphia skyline.”

Arthaus features more than 36,000 square feet of world-class amenities, including a unique rooftop greenhouse. The building’s outdoor spaces will feature individual gardening beds, a reflecting pool, lawn, and sun deck. Additional amenities include a 75-foot indoor lap pool and state-of-the-art fitness center overlooking the Kimmel Center, a tranquil library, board room, club room, dining salon, café with demonstration kitchen and kids’ playroom. Also designed by KPF, these spaces feature color and material palettes tailored to their use, such as rich woods and dark leathers in the library and board room. The ground floor incorporates more than 4,200 square feet of restaurant space.

“The design and planning of the Arthaus project is the product of years of close collaboration between KPF and the Dranoff team, and provides Philadelphia and the Avenue of the Arts with a truly elevated urban living experience,” said Jonah Hansen, KPF Director. “The design was crafted both from the inside out and the outside in; with unit planning, views, and abundant exterior living spaces fostered and enhanced by the bundled, stepped massing. Interior planning and finishes throughout the project were developed to complement the exterior forms and expression.”

Arthaus is slated for occupancy in early 2022.

Though Arthaus is KPF’s first residential building in Philadelphia, the firm has completed several iconic projects in the city across a range of types, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s renovation and expansion; the Jon M. Huntsman Hall at the Wharton School of Business, an award-winning academic building for the School’s undergraduate and graduate programs; Terminal A at the Philadelphia International Airport, a light-filled building that serves as the international gateway to the city; and the BNY Mellon Center, one of Philadelphia’s tallest buildings.

Arthaus joins KPF’s portfolio of prominent residential projects, including One Jackson Square, 27 Wooster Street, and 500 West 21st Street in New York, all of which evoke the rich, industrial characteristics of their Downtown Manhattan neighborhoods with unique formal and material treatments; Echelon Seaport, a mixed-use, mixed-income development in Boston’s Seaport Square Innovation District; Brooklyn Point, which anchors the City Point neighborhood of Brooklyn with its sculptural façade and eclectic materiality; and Heron in Tampa, part of the Water Street development, which draws inspiration from the natural landscape while remaining attuned to programmatic needs.

Read the full press release here.