They pretty much dominate the Drexel skyline these days: The two giant cranes, located just a block apart, that have been hoisting steel almost non-stop over the past year, as work crews go about the work of completing two more massive building projects that will change the way Drexel looks and works.
At the corner of 32nd and Market, the large and elegant new home of the LeBow College of Business now rises 12 stories into the sky—making the building, even in its unfinished state, the tallest on Drexel’s campus. Designed by renowned architect Robert A. Stern in conjunction with Voith & Mactavish Architects of Philadelphia, the building is set to open in less than a year.
Meanwhile, over on Chestnut Street, the Chestnut Square development is racing toward completion as well. The project, a partnership between Drexel and private developer American Campus Communities, represents a major step forward in Drexel’s efforts to revitalize its Chestnut Street corridor, as it will provide not only beautiful living spaces for students, but crucial new street-level retailers as well.
As construction at both sites soared ever upward this fall, Drexel Magazine sent two photographers—Barry Halkin and Tommy Leonardi—up into the heart of these structures to get an up-close view of these two momentous projects, which in tandem will bring new life and dynamism to the eastern edge of campus.
Their images, I think you will agree, are both striking and beautiful; we can only imagine how the buildings will look this time next year, when they’re finally open to the public.
Forming the center of the new LeBow building will be a soaring five-story-high atrium that will be ringed by classrooms, student lounges, events spaces and offices.
The glass exterior of the new LeBow College of Business building reflects an emerging design trend in the next generation of Drexel buildings—sleek, modern and beautiful. The glass will also open the building up to the street, allowing passersby to see the happenings inside.
The Chestnut Square development lining Chestnut Street between 32nd and 33rd streets will include a 19-story residential tower at the corner of Chestnut and 32nd streets, bringing new life to one of Drexel’s most important thoroughfares.
The new LeBow College of Business building towers over Market Street at 32nd Street, just minutes away from the skyscrapers composing the Center City skyline. The lands between LeBow and 30th Street Station, seen in the foreground here, are being targeted by Drexel as the base for the planned “Innovation Neighborhood”—a thriving nexus for innovation, technology and economic development.
For more info about Drexel’s plans for University City, visit drexel.edu/strategicplan and click on “Campus Master Plan.”