Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Windows, FacadeUrban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Facade, BeamUrban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Brick, Facade, Windows, Arcade, CourtyardUrban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Beam, Stairs, HandrailUrban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - More Images+ 43

  • Project Manager: Josh Stowers
  • On Site Representation, Associate Architects: H2L2 Architects Planners LLC
  • Mechanical/Electrical Engineers: Paul H. Yeomans, Inc.
  • Detailing Consultant: Jim Larson
  • Client: Urban Outfitters Inc
  • Total Construction Cost: $100 million
  • Principal In Charge: Jeffrey Scherer
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Country: United States
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Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Windows
© Lara Swimmer Photography

Text description provided by the architects. Located at the confluence of the Delaware and schuylkill Rivers, the Navy Yard served as a ship building and repair facility from 1868 through 1996. Decommissioned, it’s 187 buildings were abandoned. in 2004, the 1,000-acre National Historic District was master planned for redevelopment an evolution from public ownership to private use.

Plans Phases 1-3

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - More Images+ 43

When Urban Outfitters, inc., first considered the site, the existing structures were dilapidated. Despite the decay, the soul of the Navy Yard spoke to the company’s founder, Dick Hayne. He purchased four historic buildings, with an option on one, that were constructed from 1880 through 1939.

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Windows, Door, Brick, Beam, Arch
© Lara Swimmer Photography
Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Windows, Facade
© Lara Swimmer Photography

Project

Urban Outfitters, a clothing and housewares retailer, was the first major non-ship building corporation to move to the Navy Yard.  The design including building documentation and renovation was completed within 23 months. Using the Federal Historic PreservationTax incentive Program,the client invested over $100 million in the 285,000 square-foot project.

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Windows, Chair, Beam
© Lara Swimmer Photography
Section Phase 4

Outcome

The buildings once operated to produce naval vessels, alternating between construction, repair, and even scrapping decommissioned ships.The design centers on utilizing the factory characteristics of the buildings industrial materiality, open volumes, and access to daylight to repurpose the buildings’ major function from production to creativity. The synthesis of four measures art, culture, economy, and environment results in the transformation from a public, production based yard to a private, creativity based one.

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Table, Chair, Beam
© Lara Swimmer Photography

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design - Beam
© Lara Swimmer Photography

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Project location

Address:5101 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19112, United States

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / MSR Design" 01 Dec 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/92989/urban-outfitters-corporate-campus-meyer-scherer-rockcastle> ISSN 0719-8884

© Lara Swimmer Photography

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle

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