Gensler Selected to Design Interiors of New $1.2B Comcast Tower

Architectural firm Gensler has been selected to design the interiors of the new 59-story Comcast Innovation and Technology Center presently under construction at 18th and Arch streets. The 1,121-foot-tall skyscraper will be the tallest building in the country outside of New York or Chicago, and will house television stations, a Four Seasons hotel, and various office space.  The massive $1.2 billion project is expected to be completed by early 2018 and will create about 6,300 construction-related jobs.

The goal is to create a “functional, aesthetic, sustainable and progressive interior environment that will effectively integrate with the architectural design of the building,” the firm said in a statement.

At 1,121-feet, the new tower will conquer the Philadelphia skyline. According to Comcast, it will also be the largest private development project in Pennsylvania’s history.

Gensler will collaborate with Foster + Partners, which designed the 1,121-foot-tall structure.

The dazzling new skyscraper will house the NBC10 and Telemundo television stations, a workspace for Comcast's engineers, technologists, and software architects, and space for tech startups.

The building's adventurous architecture will be a public statement of the company's evolution from a low-tech cable-TV provider to a technology developer with video streaming, Internet products, and mobile apps.

The new Comcast Innovation and Technology Center on Arch Street between 18th and 19th Streets in Center City will be a neighbor to Comcast Center, the corporation’s current global headquarters, topping that building’s height by 150 feet.

In addition, the Suburban Station concourse will be extended a block to the west beneath 18th Street.

The 59-story structure will have about 1.5 million square feet of rentable space.

Comcast is partnering with Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Liberty Property Trust to develop the glass and stainless steel tower, which will include a Four Seasons hotel on the top 13 floors (which Gensler will not be designing), and 2,700 square feet of retail space.