Reed Street Row Homes is a ground up development for four new single-family row homes on an oddly shaped lot located in the Pennsport neighborhood of South Philadelphia. This area has historically been made up of single-family row homes on long, narrow lots, characteristic
to most of South Philadelphia, and in recent years has experienced a transition of increased density with the appearance of several new larger multi-family developments nearby. The client was interested in taking advantage of the lot’s unique shape and size with a proposal that could balance the recent demands for increased density with the historical character of the neighborhood. The project does this by proposing two buildings on the site – a single family row home on the front street-facing portion of the site with a shared driveway that gives passage to a second building, which includes three attached single-family row homes.
The front home is designed to fit well within the historic context of its neighborhood, and the rear homes provide additional homes within a building that fills the uniquely larger portion of the lot. The design uses materials to tie the buildings together in a cohesive strategy. The
ground level will be clad using grey fluted block, acting as a plinth to house seven off-street parking spaces, and the upper levels of both buildings combine red brick and black siding as a contemporary combination of materials historically found within the neighborhood.