2022 Philadelphia Navy Yard Plan
Philadelphia, PA
DIGSAU | 2022 | 8.9 million sf
The Navy Yard, located on League Island at the southern tip of Philadelphia, was acquired by the City of Philadelphia in 2000 for development as a mixed-use campus. It is currently home to over 100 businesses, including the headquarters of Urban Outfitters, as well as remaining US Naval activities.
In 2020, Ensemble Real Estate Investments and Mosaic Development Partners were selected by the City as a development partner for 109 acres at the Navy Yard. To guide their next steps, DIGSAU worked amongst a team of 13 consulting firms led by James Corner Field Operations to develop an update and expansion to the initial master plan developed in 2004 and updated in 2013.
The 2022 Navy Yard Plan establishes a roadmap to deliver 12,000 new jobs, 8.9 million square feet of new life science commercial, residential, retail, and mixed-use development and $6 billion of new investment throughout the next 20 years. The team worked with over 300 stakeholders—including Navy Yard businesses, public sector, adjacent communities, and Philadelphia residents—to create a framework focused on housing equity, transportation equity, and job training equity.
The topics addressed in the Plan are wide ranging—including guidance on flood resiliency, multimodal access, retail makerspace concepts, and life science ecosystems, as well as quantitative targets for equitable neighborhood development. DIGSAU’s work touched on all of these issues with a focus on district identities, building areas, program distribution, and architectural guidelines.
My Role
As the Project Architect, my role included:
Acting as DIGSAU's primary point of contact for JCFO and other consultants on the team
Working with the team to balance stakeholder feedback, legal obligations, and an aspirational vision for sustainability and equity
Presentation of design concepts to stakeholders
Working closely with the client to refine development metrics
Management of extensive drawings, models, and spreadsheets to define development options
Leading rapid design and refinement of strategically detailed models for rendering
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