A Path for 20 Years of Investment and Growth in uCity Square

A Path for 20 Years of Investment and Growth in uCity Square

Science Center / Wexford Science + Technology, uCity Square Master Plan

ZGF has been collaborating with Wexford Science + Technology and the University City Science Center for more than ten years on the revitalization of the uCity Square area in Philadelphia, transforming it into a center for innovation, collision, connectivity, and entrepreneurship. Located between Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, the current uCity Square portfolio encompasses a powerful mix of clinical, laboratory, office, and residential properties; innovation space; public green space; and retail. ZGF was an integral part of the original uCity Square master planning team, leading the massing, programming, and conceptual design for over 1,000,000 SF of commercial, office, and laboratory space. ZGF has also designed and constructed 3711 Science Center, 3737 Science Center, and 3675 Market Street, and is currently designing One uCity, all located within uCity Square. One uCity will provide 558,000 SF of multi-tenant spaces.

Location

Philadelphia, PA

Square Feet

1,400,000

Project Component

Architecture services

Most recently, ZGF was commissioned to provide an update to the master plan. Building upon the legacy of the planning and development work completed to date, this master plan update outlines a path for future investment and growth that will strengthen and solidify uCity Square’s impact in Philadelphia over the next 20 years. Eight projects concluded in 2020, following 13 projects across the neighborhood that reached completion in 2019. The master plan update identifies two major departures from the original plan: one is the inclusion of a hotel at the heart of the uCity Square district, to establish a beacon of 24/7 activity; the second is a planning strategy that proposes building setbacks to enhance the pedestrian experience and to strengthen visual connections into the heart of and at the edge of the district. ZGF also provided a suggested massing and programmatic distribution that will allow for a market-based approach to future phases of development, while acknowledging the importance of anchoring the district with the completion of the central plaza (The Square at uCity) and the gateways along Market Street.