Block Reconfiguration

Team

Becker Winston Architects
Project H.O.M.E

Context

As in much of North Philadelphia, it is a struggle to keep the social and physical fabric of the St. Elizabeth's neighborhood intact in the face of decades of population decline and disinvestment. Since 1993, Project H.O.M.E. has been supporting the redevelopment of the St. Elizabeth's neighborhood through a mix of social services and development totaling $32 million. A significant achievement is the recent development of the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs, a state-of-the-art facility for children and adults that integrates technology with art, education, and enterprise.

Site

Two interior streets lined with 12-foot-wide, two-bedroom row houses, more than half of them vacant or demolished.

Challenge

To reconfigure the blocks into more spacious streets and lots, promote public safety, and restore a sense of security.

Design

The design team widened the two existing narrow streets to relieve congestion and proposed constructing new twin homes between the reconfigured streets. The row houses located on the more intact outer blockfaces were preserved.

The layout of the new twin homes spans from street to street. The floor plan flips house-by-house so that front doors alternate with kitchen entrances along each block face, providing "eyes on the street" at all times of the day. Private courtyards between each set of twins provide green space for each household.