The first phase of Philadelphia’s East Market development topped out last November, defying local convention with its all-steel gravity and lateral framing systems and no concrete core. Located on the corner of 11th and Market Street, the 220-ft-tall, 400,000-sq.-ft tower uses 3,500 tons of structural steel to frame one level of below-grade parking and two floors of retail topped with 15 floors of luxury apartments.
Other structural systems were considered during the schematic phase of the project, but steel framing was the winner, as it allowed for flexible retail layouts and provided economical floor-to-floor heights in the apartment tower by incorporating plank-on-steel construction.
For more about the project, see the article “Philadelphia Freedom” in our February issue (available now!).