John Stewardson Competition Entry: Francisville Redevelopment

Location: Philadelphia, PA

5th year studio (spring 2014): 10 days

"This redevelopment proposal for Francisville seeks to create a stronger connection between the city of Philadelphia and neighborhood residents. A new trolley line running along Ridge Avenue links to the Broad Street subway line, the Girard trolley, and ultimately to Fairmount Park near the athletic fields. The addition of this service ensures that Philadelphia residents and visitors alike can readily access Francisville’s attractions without relying on automobile transportation and that further cultural investments in this neighborhood will have the groundwork laid for success.

The intervention, with two blocks along Ridge Avenue aims to create a hub of social activity for Francisville. On the southern block, at the intersection with Brown Street, a currently vacant lot will be repurposed as a community garden, serving as the gateway into the newly redeveloped area. The remainder of abandoned lots on this block will be infilled with new construction sensitive to and evocative of the existing historic buildings. Each new structure will be built to Passive House standards with vegetated roofs to mitigate runoff and store water for other uses.

The northern block sees a considerably larger scale intervention. A twisting, bent form defines the edge of the development and becomes the project’s shoreline, providing comfort in enclosure. Floating away is the island which defines the street edge and further encloses the open space contained within the block. The island houses the restaurants and entertainment, enlivening the area. Smaller shops and boutiques are nestled into the perimeter, providing a variety of choices for residents and visitors. On weekends and holidays, the cove becomes a farmer’s market, outdoor movie theater and festival space. These buildings also include vegetated roofs & rainwater catchment systems. In addition, the current concrete sidewalks along Ridge Avenue will be replaced with brick and planted with more trees to increase permeability & improve the aesthetic environment.

Overall this scheme aims to create a lively, ecologically-sound, mixed-use development to help foster a bright future for Francisville."