{"id":342576,"date":"2025-12-11T07:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/342576\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T07:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:06:08","slug":"pau-is-renovating-philadelphias-historic-wanamaker-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/342576\/","title":{"rendered":"PAU is renovating Philadelphia\u2019s historic Wanamaker Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philadelphia<\/a>\u2019s recently shuttered<\/a> \u201cpalace of shopping<\/a>,\u201d Daniel Burnham<\/a>\u2019s 12-story department store<\/a> commissioned by industrialist John Wanamaker, was largely influenced by Palazzo Medici in Florence, Italy. Its marble arches, elegant colonnades, and gilded organ have made for an impressive retail backdrop. Following Macy\u2019s recent closure<\/a>, developers have tapped Practice for Architecture & Urbanism (PAU<\/a>) to renovate the historic building.<\/p>\n

Vishaan Chakrabarti told AN, \u201cPAU is thrilled to lead the design for the public spaces of Philadelphia\u2019s historic Wanamaker Building. We intend to restore this Daniel Burnham masterwork\u2014including the building\u2019s Grand Court\u2014into the soaring world-class space generations of Philadelphians have and will continue to cherish, creating an enduring destination in the beating heart of one of America\u2019s most legendary downtowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham worked on a number of monumental retail projects in his day, namely Marshall Field\u2019s in Chicago, Filene\u2019s in Boston, Gimbels\u2019 in New York, and Selfridge\u2019s in London. The Wanamaker Building opened its doors in 1911.<\/p>\n

The Wanamaker family sold the building in 1978. Then, it served as a Lord & Taylor, Hecht\u2019s, Strawbridge\u2019s, and most recently, a Macy\u2019s. Now, PAU is renovating the building with its new owners, TF Cornerstone<\/a>, and Alterra Property Group. JKRP Architects, a local firm, is also on the project team.<\/p>\n

\"\"Proposed changes include four new entrances to the building\u2019s north and south, namely on Market, Chestnut Street, 13th, and Juniper Streets. (Courtesy PAU)<\/p>\n

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Architects have submitted plans to the Philadelphia Historical Commission, which has the final as to which alterations get approved. Proposed changes include four new entrances to the building\u2019s north and south, namely on Market, Chestnut Street, 13th, and Juniper Streets.<\/p>\n

A steel platform will be removed to wash the Grand Court in natural light, and the Crystal Tea Room will be relocated. The first three floors will be divided into small retail spaces, and upper floors will be converted to loft apartments. There will also be a new rooftop pool with views of Philadelphia City Hall, should the plans be approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s most likely not going to be one tenant across the entire area. Retail is just different,\u201d PAU\u2019s Mark Faulkner told<\/a> The Philadelphia Inquirer, in regard to the Wanamaker\u2019s renovation. Faulkner said that a lobby and arcade will connect visitors to the Grand Court, and also \u201csmaller retail and smaller individual stores around the ground floor and some of the upper floors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wanamaker Building\u2019s famous organ<\/a> designed by George Ashdown Audsley and built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company is today the world\u2019s largest functioning pipe organ. It will continue to feature prominently in the building\u2019s Grand Court. Alterra Property Group will work with PAU to resurrect original architectural details that were lost over time.<\/p>\n

On December 16, the Philadelphia Historical Commission\u2019s Architectural Committee will review PAU\u2019s plans. Construction could begin early as winter 2026 and complete in 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Philadelphia\u2019s recently shuttered \u201cpalace of shopping,\u201d Daniel Burnham\u2019s 12-story department store commissioned by industrialist John Wanamaker, was largely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-342576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}