PHILADELPHIA | Comcast Technology Center | 1,121 FT | 60 FLOORS

[Knight Hospitaller]

The building that shall not be named at 20th & Market might as well not be there from a skyline perspective. Traveling around the city today, the gap between the IBX tower and Commerce Square was glaringly apparent, despite the real estate now being occupied.

[jjv007]

I have a theory for the "missing teeth" effect some people see in Philly. Philly's "talls" are very impressive and in my mind some of the most beautiful in the country together. Not only that but statistically there are more buildings in the 850+ foot height range than some other comparable US cities not to mention CITC will be tallest in America outside of NYC and Chicago once completed.
However, one of the rough definitions of skyscrapers is 400 feet tall. Philly has just 30 such buildings currently which is ninth in the country and is soon to be surpassed by at least Dallas and Seattle. If you go by CTBUH's definition of a skyscraper (somewhat of an authority [they're the one's who designate buildings as supertall and such]), Philadelphia has just 13 skyscrapers "officially." While I don't particularly agree with the definition, the fact remains that in just twelve buildings, Philly's buildings are down to just half the tallest's (Comcast Center currently) height. That's a pretty significant drop-off given the stature of "The Big Philly 5" we always see featured in pictures.
It usually takes a building to be between 400-500 feet to be significantly noticed by a casual observer in a city like Philly. It varies of course (more height necessary in "Market Street Wall," less in University City currently or east of City Hall) but the fact stands that because Philly is relatively low in this medium to upper range category of buildings there often appears to be "gaps " in the skyline. This perspective is enhanced as I touched on earlier due to the height of Philly's tallest few skyscrapers.
Does this make sense to any of you or am I just way off base?

[Human Scale]

Originally Posted by jjv007

I have a theory for the "missing teeth" effect some people see in Philly. Philly's "talls" are very impressive and in my mind some of the most beautiful in the country together. Not only that but statistically there are more buildings in the 850+ foot height range than some other comparable US cities not to mention CITC will be tallest in America outside of NYC and Chicago once completed.
However, one of the rough definitions of skyscrapers is 400 feet tall. Philly has just 30 such buildings currently which is ninth in the country and is soon to be surpassed by at least Dallas and Seattle. If you go by CTBUH's definition of a skyscraper (somewhat of an authority [they're the one's who designate buildings as supertall and such]), Philadelphia has just 13 skyscrapers "officially." While I don't particularly agree with the definition, the fact remains that in just twelve buildings, Philly's buildings are down to just half the tallest's (Comcast Center currently) height. That's a pretty significant drop-off given the stature of "The Big Philly 5" we always see featured in pictures.
It usually takes a building to be between 400-500 feet to be significantly noticed by a casual observer in a city like Philly. It varies of course (more height necessary in "Market Street Wall," less in University City currently or east of City Hall) but the fact stands that because Philly is relatively low in this medium to upper range category of buildings there often appears to be "gaps " in the skyline. This perspective is enhanced as I touched on earlier due to the height of Philly's tallest few skyscrapers.
Does this make sense to any of you or am I just way off base?

That, and Philadelphia's strict grid of streets. Hitting a sight line directly down Walnut, Chestnut, Market (especially) in aerial view will create the gaps down to street.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by jjv007

However, one of the rough definitions of skyscrapers is 400 feet tall. Philly has just 30 such buildings currently which is ninth in the country and is soon to be surpassed by at least Dallas and Seattle. If you go by CTBUH's definition of a skyscraper (somewhat of an authority [they're the one's who designate buildings as supertall and such]), Philadelphia has just 13 skyscrapers "officially."

The CTBUH (which I am a member of) does not define whether a building is a skyscraper based on its height, they define it as a building which, because of its height, requires novel engineering systems to accommodate the building and its occupants. They then define "supertall", "megatall", etc. by height.
The database page lists on its first page all buildings 150m and taller, of which there are 11 completed and 3 under construction, but overall there are 149 skyscrapers in Philadelphia. 150m is just a filter so they can show the tallest buildings, it is not defining the term "skyscraper" as a building 150m in height minimum.
Here is a link to the database page, showing all cities. Philadelphia is on Page 2.
http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/cities
Here is another link to the Council's page defining height criteria.
http://www.ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/H...S/Default.aspx

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by jjv007

I have a theory for the "missing teeth" effect some people see in Philly. Philly's "talls" are very impressive and in my mind some of the most beautiful in the country together. Not only that but statistically there are more buildings in the 850+ foot height range than some other comparable US cities not to mention CITC will be tallest in America outside of NYC and Chicago once completed.
However, one of the rough definitions of skyscrapers is 400 feet tall. Philly has just 30 such buildings currently which is ninth in the country and is soon to be surpassed by at least Dallas and Seattle. If you go by CTBUH's definition of a skyscraper (somewhat of an authority [they're the one's who designate buildings as supertall and such]), Philadelphia has just 13 skyscrapers "officially." While I don't particularly agree with the definition, the fact remains that in just twelve buildings, Philly's buildings are down to just half the tallest's (Comcast Center currently) height. That's a pretty significant drop-off given the stature of "The Big Philly 5" we always see featured in pictures.
It usually takes a building to be between 400-500 feet to be significantly noticed by a casual observer in a city like Philly. It varies of course (more height necessary in "Market Street Wall," less in University City currently or east of City Hall) but the fact stands that because Philly is relatively low in this medium to upper range category of buildings there often appears to be "gaps " in the skyline. This perspective is enhanced as I touched on earlier due to the height of Philly's tallest few skyscrapers.
Does this make sense to any of you or am I just way off base?

Won't be surpassed by Dallas since Dallas currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT and none currently under construction.

Philadelphia has 29 buildings over 400 FT with 3 under construction. Could obviously have more if 1911 Walnut, 1001 S. Broad, 1910 Chestnut, SLS, 2100 Market, some of the Schuylkill Yards towers, etc. get off of the ground.

Philadelphia will indeed be surpassed by Seattle however. Seattle currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT tall with 14 buildings over 400 FT under construction.

Boston could also potentially surpass Philadelphia as Boston currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT tall with 6 under construction.

[Human Scale]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Won't be surpassed by Dallas since Dallas currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT and none currently under construction.

Philadelphia has 29 buildings over 400 FT with 3 under construction. Could obviously have more if 1911 Walnut, 1001 S. Broad, 1910 Chestnut, SLS, 2100 Market, some of the Schuylkill Yards towers, etc. get off of the ground.

Philadelphia will indeed be surpassed by Seattle however. Seattle currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT tall with 14 buildings over 400 FT under construction.

Boston could also potentially surpass Philadelphia as Boston currently has 28 buildings over 400 FT tall with 6 under construction.

Seattle is so fetch right now.

[boxbot]

Originally Posted by Human Scale

Seattle is so fetch right now.

They can keep their Amazon um...spheres proposal.

[JawKneeQuest]

Some kind of paneling is going up on the East side. First for the east side.

Looks like almost 6 full floors of windows for both North and South sides.

[Jawnadelphia]

V for Villanova, atop CITC.

[IMG]Untitled

[IMG]Untitled

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(Around 300 ft for the steel)

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[ekt8750]

The steel is tall enough to be seen from the Vine St Expressway

2016-04-14_10-27-26 by Eric Butler, on Flickr

[Londonee]

The first glass panels are now being installed on the building's eastern facade.

[ekt8750]

The webcam is back up!

[QUEENSNYMAN]

So in terms of feet how many are we to the top of core?

[BashirTheTrainMaster]

Forms are at this height. Image is probably no longer valid if the height changed and I wonder where this change is like the rest of you.

[Outta here]

Originally Posted by QUEENSNYMAN

So in terms of feet how many are we to the top of core?

This is just a guess but the old Bell telephone i.e. three logan sq. tower is about 739' and
from where I am the core appears to be right around that height ........

However , I have not seen any concrete information from Comcast that makes me believe the lantern
will top out at 1,147.6 feet .

[summersm343]

Update from Building Philly







More photos here:
https://www.facebook.com/BuildingPhilly

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Outta here

This is just a guess but the old Bell telephone i.e. three logan sq. tower is about 739' and
from where I am the core appears to be right around that height ........

However , I have not seen any concrete information from Comcast that makes me believe the lantern
will top out at 1,147.6 feet .

Don't forget that a fellow rained on our parade a few pages back. He said that nothing has changed and that the building will be 1121 overall (but 1147 from sea level - or something like that).

[Plokoon11]

Maybe he was just a troll, what were his credentials?

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by Plokoon11

Maybe he was just a troll, what were his credentials?

Haha perhaps. He didn't give any credentials but it makes sense. I actually looked up an elevation map and it is just about exactly 26 feet above sea level here. If he was lying it'd be a hell of a coincidence.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Plokoon11

Maybe he was just a troll, what were his credentials?

No idea, but suggested that he was an "insider" of some kind. We'll just have to see. All we have to go on either way is anecdotal statements and numbers that may or may not be "apples to oranges."