EL CORAZÓN CULTURAL CENTER WINS A BILL ROUSE AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Taller Puertorriqueño’s El Corazón Cultural Center recently won a ULI Philadelphia Willard G. “Bill” Rouse III Awards for Excellence for its thoughtful design, community impact, sustainability and financial success. The recognition marks the sixth award to one of our projects in the five-year course of the Rouse Awards. “A great project begins and ends with a great client, we have been extremely fortunate to be part of fantastic collaborations”, said Antonio Fiol-Silva who led all projects, “Taller’s win is particularly sweet, as it caps a 10-year labor of love to realize a place (sitio) that stands to have an enormous impact in the Latino community in Philadelphia.”

The Awards for Excellence celebrate all aspects of development and land use and recognize superior projects completed in the region within the last five years. The winners represent a variety of project types and were selected by a national jury of 12 experts based on not just one element, such as innovation in design, but for a range of characteristics including high standard of real estate development, achieving sustainability and building performance, innovation in site reuse, social impact for the surrounding community and financial success. This year’s winners rose to the top amidst a group of excellent projects by impressing the jury in overcoming obstacles in development and representing models of innovation and leadership.  The winners were announced at a celebration featuring Inga Saffron, Pulitzer Prize winning Architectural Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Read more about it at: 

https://philadelphia.uli.org/press-releases/announcing-winners-awards-excellence-2018/ https://philadelphia.uli.org/news/reflecting-uli-philadelphia-awards/

DESIGN OF 3720 CHESTNUT STREET UNVEILED

3720 Chestnut a 30-story mixed-use residential tower will be presented to the city’s Civic Design Review board this month. Located in University City, proximate to The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business, the development will integrate 420 luxury apartments, vibrant retail spaces and open courtyards within a stately block framed by churches and gardens.   Click here for a recent Philly.com article.

BRIDESBURG PARK DESIGN UNVEILED

All along the Delaware River, derelict industrial sites are being transformed by the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department and the Delaware River City Corporation into a string of waterfront parks interconnected by trail extensions that will become part of the East Coast Greenway.  In the Bridesburg neighborhood, SITIO, in collaboration with Langan Engineers and Ground Reconsidered, recently unveiled the design for a new 10-acre park to the community.   SITIO’s design for the park’s pavilions - to include a performance stage, a picnic pavilion, restrooms and way-finding signposts - found inspiration in the brawny infrastructure and industrial character of the bridges and structures that surround the sweeping waterfront site. The creation of this large Park will also feature event spaces, terrace seating, boardwalks offering sweeping views out into the waterfront, and connections to the Richmond and K&T trails to the north.

ANTONIO FIOL-SILVA SERVES ON THE 2018 CNU AWARDS JURY

The Congress for the New Urbanism recently convened a Charter Awards jury of distinguished designers, architects, planners and scholars to review entries and selected winners for the 2018 CNU Charter Awards.   Antonio, a recipient of two CNU Charter Awards, joined a distinguished Jury Co-Chaired by Maurice Cox, Director of Planning for the City of Detroit, and Jennifer Hurley, Principal at Hurley-Franks & Associates.   Award applicants were judged on the extent to which they fulfill and advance the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism, which defines the essential qualities of outstanding buildings and urban places. This year’s jury had a particular interest in equitable and inclusive placemaking.

Since 2002, CNU's annual Charter Awards have recognized outstanding achievements in architectural, landscape, and urban design and planning worldwide. Regarded as the preeminent award for excellence in urban design, the CNU Charter Awards honors a select number of winners.  Winning projects represent major contributions to building more equitable, sustainable, connected, healthy, and prosperous communities.

Learn more about the CNU Charter Awards at  https://www.cnu.org/charter-awards.  The Charter Awards will be presented at CNU’s 26th Congress on May 16-19 in in Savanah, GA, https://www.cnu.org/cnu26

NEWMAN CENTER UNVEILS PLANS FOR ITS NEW HOME

The Newman Center in Philadelphia’s University City, home to the Penn Newman Catholic Community and the Drexel Newman Catholic Community, unveiled plans for its new home at 38th and Chestnut Streets at the heart of Philadelphia’s University City.  The 30,000 s.f. state-of-the-art facility integrates two stately stone buildings through a new glass-enclosed garden pavilion to create a seamless Newman Center that is engaging of its campus context.   

The Center’s program includes a large 200-seat meeting space conducive to receptions, dinners and lectures; a large lounge for informal gatherings and events; meeting rooms; offices and a chapel.  The buildings will be accessed through a gracious entry plaza off 38th Street, and a green courtyard off Chestnut Street that is designed to both serve as a contemplative oasis, as well as a vessel for receptions and events.  

SITIO’s project team includes Studio Bryan Hanes as Landscape Architect, Bruce Brooks & Associates as MEP engineers, Larsen & Landis as structural engineers, and BEAM lighting designers. Intech Construction is the general contractor, with a March 2018 groundbreaking set for the initial phase of construction. 

SKYLINE WEST BRINGS MODERN LIVING TO HISTORIC BETHLEHEM

Hot off the Press! Nestled in a wooded site perched over the Monocacy Creek, Skyline West connects luxury living to the vibrant heart of downtown Bethlehem while offering the quite respite of the natural surroundings.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2018/01/new_5-story_apartment_building.html

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-nws-historic-bethlehem-jeff-parks-apartments-20180118-story.html

SITIO'S KAREN BLANCHARD INDUCTED AS 2018 AIA PHILADELPHIA PRESIDENT

SITIO is delighted to announce that Principal Karen Blanchard was inducted as the 2018 President of AIA Philadelphia at a ceremony held at the Philadelphia Athenaeum.  Leading to her election as President Karen served as a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and Co-Chair of the Women In Architecture.  Karen, a past recipient of the AIA Philadelphia Young Architect Award, looks forward to expanding the AIA’s mission of design advocacy and peer mentorship.  SITIO is proud of our history of service to AIA Philadelphia, building upon Antonio Fiol-Silva’s contributions as AIA Philadelphia President in 2014.

KAREN BLANCHARD PRESENTS AT AIA QUAD CONFERENCE PANEL

SITIO’s Karen Blanchard presented with architectural leaders from New Jersey, New York, and New England at the AIA Quad Conference in Albany, NY on November 10th. This panel presented professional experiences in creative design practices as well as the different challenges and opportunities that have impacted their work and career paths. Karen shared her involvement as the AIA Philadelphia Women In Architecture Co-Chair since 2013, focusing on the organization’s engagement not only to women in the design industry but to all emerging practitioners.

SITIO PROUD TO SPONSOR PUERTO RICO DISASTER RELIEF BENEFIT CONCERT

SITIO was proud to sponsor the Puerto Rico disaster relief benefit concert at Bethlehem’s SteelStacks on Sunday November 6th.  Antonio Fiol-Silva joined Puerto Rican community leaders and Lehigh Valley Mayors and Council Members to welcome notable local Latin musicians who performed a free concert to collect donations.  All funds will go directly to Puerto Rico hurricane relief through Concilio-Philadelphia. Donations are still being accepted - checks can be made payable to Concilio-Unidos PA’ PR and can be mailed to HGSK Law Firm, 1349 Lynn Ave., Bethlehem 18015.

TALLER PUERTORRIQUENO CULTURAL CENTER RECEIVES AIA PHILADELPHIA DESIGN AWARD

Taller Puertorriqueno Cultural Center received a Merit Design Award at the AIA Philadelphia 2017 Design Awards Gala. Known as El Corazón Cultural del Barrio (The Cultural Heart of Latino Philadelphia), Taller Puertorriqueño uses art to promote development within its community and the Latino Diaspora and build bridges to the Greater Philadelphia region. SITIO Principal Antonio Fiol-Silva lead the project from feasibility to design and construction as designer and Principal-In-Charge.

A SHINING STAR: NATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS HIGHLIGHT STEELSTACKS' IMPACT ON COMMUNITY AND NATION

InQ, ArtsQuest's Magazine, reflects on the meaning of SteelStacks' successes in A SHINING STAR: National Design Awards Highlight SteelStacks' Impact on Community and Nation.   Hear from Bethlehem Leaders and SITIO Principal Antonio Fiol-Silva in the What they're saying about SteelStacks sidebar.   Click here to access the article by Mark Demko.

DESIGN OF NEW RIVERFRONT PARK IN BRIDESBURG KICKS OFF

Langan Engineering and Ground Reconsidered landscape architects, together with SITIO architecture + urbanism, began work on the new Bridesburg Riverfront Park and facilities, which will become a significant trailhead and gateway to the North Delaware Riverfront/East Coast Greenways.  

The 10+-acre park on the Delaware River, developed by the Delaware River City Corporation in partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation, will open access to a spectacular panoramic swath of the Delaware River just north of the old Pennsylvania Railroad Lift and Betsy Ross Bridges.