The Community Design Collaborative has teamed up with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) to support a design challenge that will tackle some of the common issues surrounding retooling older industrial sites in urban neighborhoods through an original approach—innovative design.

The Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites Design Challenge will officially kick off on Tuesday, February 16 at the Urban Outfitters Headquarters at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Building 543 from 4 – 6:30 p.m.

The program will feature a keynote address by William C. Struever, President and CEO of Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse. Struever is a leading figure in green urban revitalization who has pioneered adaptive reuse of industrial buildings and neighborhood development. He received the Urban Land Institute’s Award of Excellence for the Clipper Mill in Baltimore, MD, a project that transformed a former manufacturing complex into a sustainable mixed-use development, and was awarded the Congressional Achievement Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Serving the Citizens of the United States.” Struever Bros. have completed many innovative projects around the country like the renovation a former Coca-Cola Syrup plant in Baltimore to become the headquarters and main manufacturing facility for Phillips Seafood, creating more than 300 jobs for local residents.

At the kickoff, the design teams, jurors, and partners will be announced and the project sites unveiled. Three design firms have volunteered to participate in the challenge and will tackle three projects that will serve as prototypes for bringing new industrial sectors into the city in ways that are sensitive to neighborhoods. The firms will seek input from community-based organizations and a diverse group of experts to create concepts that respond to the requirements of each site, which range in scale and potential uses. Through the conceptual designs of three volunteer teams of architects and the diverse group of experts who will review their work, Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites will identify some key design principles for reintroducing manufacturing into Philadelphia’s urban neighborhoods.

The projects include creating space for artisanal industries in a wing of an old factory building, designing an industrial/residential mixed-use project for a multi-building complex, and developing a sustainable site plan for industrial space on a riverfront property.

This third phase of Infill Philadelphia will build on the Industrial Market and Land Use Strategy undertaken by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. “Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites will add thoughtful, creative options to the menu of Philadelphia’s industrial land development strategies and complement the city’s sustainability, green jobs, and economic initiatives,” says Alan Greenberger, Executive Director, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.