To accommodate the university’s need for expanded meeting areas and short-term residences for distinguished visiting guests, 3808-3810 Walnut Street was renovated and expanded by 9,000 SF with an addition to the south side of the building, and now serves as the university’s new Meeting and Guest House. The addition and complete renovation creates the experience of an upscale venue and residence for visitors while maintaining the historic north elevation of the Victorian style twins that are synonymous with West Philadelphia architecture.

Keast & Hood was engaged in the 2018 feasibility study of the building’s renovation and retained once again for the full project and its expanded scope. The project scope includes a new entrance vestibule and reception area on the south side of the building, a multipurpose event space, executive conference room, guest offices, bathrooms, catering support space, residential guestrooms / suites, common areas, staff offices, and an exterior veranda area suitable for outside events.

The project’s structural scope is complicated in that a number of structural floor and wall systems are utilized throughout the building’s existing construction as well as it’s renovation and addition. Engineers needed to knit multiple systems together in order to create flat floorplates and continuous walls throughout the structure. To accommodate residential units and suites on the upper levels, engineers re-supported existing wood floors and added CMU elevator and egress stair shafts which doubled as shear walls. The first floor, which houses the main entrance, is comprised of structural steel framing and a concrete slab in order to give the feel of a solid structure and not the flexibility that often comes with aged wood floor systems. Additional structural scope includes design and support for an expanded fourth floor and roof, support of roof mounted MEP equipment, framing modifications for new floor and roof openings and infills, and new bearing wall lintels.

The project is LEED Gold certified.

To accommodate the university’s need for expanded meeting areas and short-term residences for distinguished visiting guests, 3808-3810 Walnut Street was renovated and expanded by 9,000 SF with an addition to the south side of the building, and now serves as the university’s new Meeting and Guest House. The addition and complete renovation creates the experience of an upscale venue and residence for visitors while maintaining the historic north elevation of the Victorian style twins that are synonymous with West Philadelphia architecture.

Keast & Hood was engaged in the 2018 feasibility study of the building’s renovation and retained once again for the full project and its expanded scope. The project scope includes a new entrance vestibule and reception area on the south side of the building, a multipurpose event space, executive conference room, guest offices, bathrooms, catering support space, residential guestrooms / suites, common areas, staff offices, and an exterior veranda area suitable for outside events.

The project’s structural scope is complicated in that a number of structural floor and wall systems are utilized throughout the building’s existing construction as well as it’s renovation and addition. Engineers needed to knit multiple systems together in order to create flat floorplates and continuous walls throughout the structure. To accommodate residential units and suites on the upper levels, engineers re-supported existing wood floors and added CMU elevator and egress stair shafts which doubled as shear walls. The first floor, which houses the main entrance, is comprised of structural steel framing and a concrete slab in order to give the feel of a solid structure and not the flexibility that often comes with aged wood floor systems. Additional structural scope includes design and support for an expanded fourth floor and roof, support of roof mounted MEP equipment, framing modifications for new floor and roof openings and infills, and new bearing wall lintels.

The project is LEED Gold certified.

CLIENT: Debra Berke Partners
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA

TYPE: Academic, SERVICES: Addition, Renovation, MATERIALS: Wood, SUSTAINABILITY: LEED, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Final Photography © Chris Cooper