Designers of Philadelphia's newest upscale condominiums, located in Rittenhouse Square, seek to recapture the building's original texture and elegance from its days as the Penn Athletic Club, which opened in 1927. The 17-story brick building, now named Parc Rittenhouse, once featured balconies, iron railings, ornamental string courses, paired windows with incised arches, and terra cotta ornaments.
During World War II the building was converted to government offices, and served most recently as a hotel.
Princeton, N.J.-based Hillier Architecture will restore the principal building entrances, re-create the original storefronts and some of the original exterior decorative elements, and add a two-story addition to the roof in front of the existing elevator penthouse on the center of the 18th Street façade—the original entrance. The building will also house street-level commercial space.