FRANKFORD CONNECTOR

Project: Frankford Connector
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Client: Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
Size: 1600-linear foot project extents
Timeline: 2018 Ongoing

In February 2018, PORT was selected by DRWC to design and implement a connector project for Frankford Avenue in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. The scope of work entails the creation of “a unified, inviting design for Frankford Avenue that will provide safe and attractive passage for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists between the neighborhood and the river.” PORT developed a series of interventions related to four distinct work areas within the 1600-linear foot project extents. These project components include a series of four dynamic walls at the I-95 Underpass Gallery, featuring super-sized illuminated letter forms and a 135’-long mural; a new public plaza on an underused one-way street segment near an existing entertainment complex; gateway markers at the northern and southern ends of the corridor in the form of bespoke over-scaled urban furnishing; and a new 60,000-sf flexible recreation and event platform known as The Box at Delaware on the site of an underused parking lot adjacent to future development parcels. This new public venue draws activities in the neighborhood down to the river front, and holds the street edge in anticipation of upcoming development.