Cherry St Pier
2018 / Philadelphia, PA
LESS MONEY, MORE PUBLIC
Cherry St Pier reclaims a piece of Philadelphia’s industrial infrastructure as a cultural and commercial anchor along the Delaware River, returning it to the public realm. A tactical investment strategy maximizes the Pier's public presence, with a series of programmed clusters of shipping containers inserted into the existing 50,000 SF warehouse. These structures create a series of permanent and temporary environments for art, recreation, food, drink, shopping and events. Suffering from decades of deferred maintenance, a complete restoration of the existing structure was financially infeasible. Too much investment would have led to a high-end residential or commercial use largely excluding the public, and too little investment would have failed to keep the public safe and the pier properly programmed. Cherry Street Pier’s in-between level of redevelopment hits the right note, creating a welcoming, incremental, participatory civic experience.
FUN HOUSE
Distinct program areas weave together a diverse and animated public experience. The Garage provides semi-permanent art, gallery, making and retail opportunities. The Market serves as a pop-up seasonal flea across a series of changing themes. The Platform serves as a zone for large-format art, recreation and event installations. At the end of the pier, the roof of the existing structure was removed, creating a garden open to the sky with vendors selling food and beverages, and framed views of the Ben Franklin Bridge and the river.
CONTAINER LOGIC
Shipping containers provided dimensional and self-supporting characteristics to bolster the pier’s deteriorated structure. Bridging between 20-foot beams embedded in the base of the pier, the containers both solved a challenging structural issue and were well-scaled to create a double-stacked layer of artist studios and gallery programming.
POP-UP CITY
The Garage provides low-cost rental studios for a curated group of diverse local artists, expanding interaction and sales opportunities while exposing the art-making process to visitors. The bleacher seating and adjacent stage area is programmed year-round with interactive art events and performances by local and visiting artists and musicians, funded and managed by the non-profit Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
Cherry Street Pier was designed in collaboration with Groundswell Design Group.
