Save the Roundhouse

PlanPhilly's series "Building Stories" asks Philadelphia architects to take us to their favorite under-appreciated or misunderstood buildings in Philadelphia, and explain what makes them great. In this thoughtful piece, Architect Fon Wang expresses her admiration for the Roundhouse and argues for its preservation.

Building Stories: The Roundhouse For our spring series Building Stories, we're bringing you design postcards from around the city. We're asking Philadelphia architects to take us to their…

Roundhouse architect Bob Geddes, founding partner of Geddes, Brecher, Qualls, and Cunningham (GBQC), will be giving a lecture on April 5th at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, sponsored by DOMOCOMO Philadelphia and DOCOMOMO NY/Tri-State. Geddes will also guide a tour through the venue for his talk, the Institute of Advanced Study’s Simmons Hall—a GBQC masterwork of 1971.

Make it New - Make it Fit: Lecture by Bob Geddes Make it New, Make it FitLecture by Bob Geddes at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, sponsored by DOMOCOMO Philadelphia and DOCOMOMO NY/Tri-State. The architecture of Geddes, Brecher, Qualls, and Cunningham (GBQC) has been largely overlooked in recent years—despite a remarkable and in...

Although we are saying goodbye to this irreplaceable iconic building, we must acknowledge that the campaign to Save Prentice has brought the significance and plight of Modern buildings to the attention of a wide audience and created potential future allies in the fight for their preservation.

"Every preservationist, whether new to the game or a seasoned saver, walks into a fight knowing there's always a chance for loss... But with loss comes hope. Losses can galvanize us. They remind us what's worth fighting for."

As Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago comes down, we're taking a moment to reflect on this iconic building, and asking the preservation community to take a pledge in support of modernism:

http://blog.preservationnation.org/2013/11/06/video-saying-goodbye-to-prentice-womens-hospital-a-modernist-icon/ #.Unp3FfnNVSg

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s 2035 Plan is now finalized and available for review here: http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/plans/District%20Plans%20Library/Central_DP_FINAL.pdf. While it’s disappointing that the site of the Roundhouse remains a “likely candidate for redevelopment,” (see updated rendering of the redeveloped site below) we truly appreciate all of the feedback given in support of the preservation of the Roundhouse. The following comment from the published public feedback was particularly encouraging:

“The Roundhouse has historical roots; we should not eliminate our history, just because it doesn't fit in with an 18th Century fantasy. I saw that what replaced the Roundhouse on your Public Meeting Board was a four story brick condominium (ho hum). The Roundhouse is three stories of potential condo space with a ground floor that could be re-purposed (Sweat Fitness might value the location). The Metropolitan Condos across the street create a great interplay with the Roundhouse; the narrowing of Race Street would allow for a new element to add to that relationship. I could imagine a glass coffee shop taking up residence in the Plaza to the Roundhouse Condos, perhaps in the shape of an almond, with people sitting in chairs on a re-landscaped courtyard. In the summer evening it would be possible to watch the shadow from the new Roundhouse Tower (planted [similar to the Murano] in the old Police Parking lot) cross over Franklin Square. The parking lot avoids the tunnels that make development in this area so difficult, so high rise condos could work well there (with a discreet parking garage shoehorned behind the high rise [with an entrance off of Cherry Street]).

Although, the curve for 7th Street that follows the Roundhouse would not be as clean as a diagonal, I think that the area could be enlivened AND the current park on the SE corner of 8th & Race could connect the Public Plaza over the Ridge Spur tunnel across the intersection from the NW to the SE. Condos or actual pocket row homes (Onion Flats anyone) could complete the east side of 8th from the park to Cherry Street.

Whatever my ideas might be, I'd actually wait for Jack Pyburn's students at Georgia Tech to complete their analysis of the Roundhouse. Penn Praxis and the Preservation Alliance may have a design competition for reuse. Whether the latter ever happens, PCPC could use the best design from the Georgia Tech students as the basis of the future boards you present to people. Any image is the basis for a conversation, and I for one would like the conversation to incorporate a preserved Roundhouse as opposed to another architectural touchstone turning into rubble.”

Just a reminder that public comments are welcome on the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's 2035 Central District Plan until this Wednesday, May 15th. The plan for the "Franklin Square Neighborhood" shows the Roundhouse demolished and replaced by residential construction. If you feel that the Roundhouse is an irreplaceable piece of Philadelphia’s architectural legacy, and that it should remain in place as a component of the neighborhood that develops around Franklin Square, please write PCPC project manager Laura Spina at [email protected]. The full Central District Plan can be found at:http://phila2035.org/DP_Centralbook_3_12.pdf

Here is a higher-quality version of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's "In Progress" Philadelphia 2035 plan for the Franklin Square Neighborhood. The Roundhouse is labeled as "Likely for Redevelopment" and the site where the building now stands is labeled simply "Police HQ lot." The use of a drab black and white image of the Roundhouse and the current Race street corridor in comparison to their bright and colorful rendering of a narrower Race Street with new construction is an obvious ploy.

Since this plan is still “In Progress” and they are accepting suggestions from the citizens of Philadelphia. We encourage you to reach out to the Central District contact person, Laura M. Spina at [email protected] and let the City know that you feel the Roundhouse is an irreplaceable piece of Philadelphia’s architectural legacy!