Billion Dollar Baby!!!

In the evening, you may have taken a look at the Philly skyline recently and noticed two lighted rods hovering near southwest Philadelphia. One of these rods is lit red and the other blue. This genius bit of branding is the location of a $1.5 BILLION dollar new development by the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn Medicine Pavilion, designed by Foster + Partners the same firm that designed the new Comcast Technology Center, will house a new inpatient facility (AKA hospital) totaling more than 1.5 million square feet! This massive, oblong state-of-the-art building with curved ends resembles a large boat. You can also see the exterior color taking shape with the bronze facade cladding being installed. The Pavilion at 1 Convention Ave. will rise 17 stories and house 500 private patient rooms, 47 operating rooms, an emergency room, over 650 parking spaces, 35 elevators and an abundance of new technology. Some of the new tech that will be installed includes, adaptive and efficient elevators and telemedicine functionality. When the project is completed in 2021, Penn expects it to achieve LEED Gold status.

The eastern end of the Pavilion

The western end of the Pavilion hanging over 34th St.

Cranes rising above Penn Pavilion. Looking South with Penn Museum in the foreground

Bronze colored facade

The eastern end of the Pavilion overlooking the Septa / Amtrak rail

Looming over the Penn Museum