• Project Experience | General Building | Race Street

Race Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Race Street Pier has now become a spectacular new open space park, which engages people from the adjacent neighborhoods, people from all parts of the City and tourists in a fresh and contemporary way to experience the Delaware River.

The physical design of the pier is split into two levels – an upper level with a grand sky promenade and a lower level for passive recreation and social gathering. A dramatic ramp rises along the north face alongside the bridge, dramatizing the sense of arriving in the space of the river. A lower terrace supports a lawn with generous seating and social space.  The new park will feature 37 mature, 8-inch caliper, nearly fully grown trees, which will provide instant dramatic impact upon opening.

The new Race Street Pier is an early action project that sets new standards of excellence in design and public space. It represents a significant investment in a high quality public space intended to serve as a catalyst for the adjacent area and future development of the Central Delaware River Waterfront.

Projects Facts are: 

1. Trees:  The 37 large caliper Swamp White Oak trees that were cultivated at a nursery in Millstone, N.J for the World Trade Center Memorial at Ground Zero in New York City. 

2. Grasses and Perennials:  Almost 10,250 individual 4 inch pots of shade tolerant grasses and perennials were planted in weathered steel planters to increase diversity and add texture, color and seasonal interest.

3. Lighting: The park’s setting under the Ben Franklin Bridge is spectacular at night; therefore the park was designed to be enjoyed in the evening as well as during the day with extensive lighting including 200 LED Solar Light Blocks embedded into the paving.
 
4. Paving: The paving on the upper level ramp is Trex, a sustainable synthetic decking material made out of reclaimed plastic and wood, representing one of the largest public installations of Trex decking in the country.

5. Railings:  The perimeter railing leans at a 65 degree angle towards the pier, further accentuating the forced one-point perspective of the ramp rising along the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Lights are incorporated into railing on the lower level. 

6. Seating Steps: Tiered seating terraces link the upper and lower levels and create a destination at the end of the pier for viewing, gathering, and contemplation. 

7. Wharf Drops: 2 wharf-drops on the lower level originally used to unload cargo for shipping were retrofitted and integrated into the new park.  They are covered with transparent metal grating and a portion of one has been left open for users to experience the river in an unusual and authentic way. 
 
8. Fill:  Over 2,015 cubic yards of geofoam were used to form the sky promenade on the upper level. 

9. Tides: The Delaware River is tidal, fluctuating an average of six feet in elevation a day.  At mean high water level, the lower level of the pier will be approximately 4.5 feet above the river, making the Race Street Pier one of rare places where you can get close to the water. The Race Street Pier is also a tidal register, where you can find out the forecast for high and low tides for the City of Philadelphia.

AP is proud to have participated in creating a waterfront that will be enjoyed by generations of Philadelphians to come.