Griffin

Built in 1898, the Beaux Arts-style Real Estate Trust Building and, later, the Western Savings Fund Society Building, remained a premier Philadelphia office location until 2000, when it became housing for students of the University of the Arts. We accepted the challenge to retrofit the tower for multi-family residential use.

Working with JKRP Architects, we designed the lobby, management offices, lounge, wellness center, rooftop, and residential corridors. MRP Development of Washington, D.C., wanted to appeal to an upwardly mobile working class. The interiors are warm, sophisticated, and classic. The lobby walls are soft, golden, polished plaster. A glass chandelier of 1,000 pieces, fabricated by the Lasvit studio in the Czech Republic, hangs gracefully in the lobby. We used walnut for door frames and flooring. The corridors feature custom wool Axminster carpet with crystal lighting.