1516 N 5th St, Philadelphia
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The atrium ceiling at Billy Penn Studios — steel truss and skylight over a restored factory floor

Architecture  ·  Olde Kensington, Philadelphia

Built for industry.
Rebuilt for now.

Billy Penn Studios features extensive industrial design adaptive reuse architecture, merging the past with the present. Original brick, heavy timber, steel truss, factory windows — with modern engineering, new systems threaded through them and a vision of what could be.

01 — Drawn First

A vision to transform
a building, and
a neighborhood.

The concept came together around 2014 — not only for the building, but for what a restored factory could do for the block around it. A partnership group was formed, led by managing partner and building owner Tobias Biddle, broker and owner of Quality Real Estate.

The design and architecture are the work of Nir Mamon of B March Design and Architecture. These are the renderings that came out of it — hover the labels to move through them.

An early rendering of the Billy Penn Studios atrium, with whitewashed brick, trees in red drums and cafe seating An early rendering looking south across the Billy Penn Studios atrium, with a painted mural, a living green wall and glazed offices above An early rendering of the Billy Penn Studios atrium seen from the catwalk, under the glass and steel truss ceiling An early rendering of the courtyard cafe at Billy Penn Studios, with a shipping container coffee bar under the trees An early rendering of the cafe at Billy Penn Studios, with the container coffee bar beneath the steel catwalk An early rendering of the lobby at Billy Penn Studios, looking down the timber posts and red columns toward the atrium An early rendering of the 1516 N 5th Street facade, with brick at street level and a paneled upper story

02 — Lobby & Atrium

A third place and
business space.

The grand lobby and atrium were designed around the idea of a third place — a term from sociology for the places that are neither home nor work, where people gather without needing a reason to be there. A café open to the public, seating under the glass ceiling, and room enough to run into somebody.

What were once exterior walls now face inward across the atrium, with new windows cut into the historic brick and block.

Historic exterior walls at Billy Penn Studios, now facing inward across the atrium, with new windows cut into them

03 — How It Got Built

From floorplan
to finished.

After the concepts and floorplan drawings, extensive structural and grading work combined multiple adjacent buildings into one — then 180,000 sq ft of new mechanicals, metal studs, conduit, Cat 6, LEDs, drywall, concrete and LVT flooring.

The visionary design is Nir Mamon's. Floors were removed in the lobby and atrium to make both double height, a shipping container was customized into a café, concert lighting was rigged inside a building — all of it worked around symmetry, form and function. Construction began in 2014 and finished in 2021.

The original factory windows in Unit 506 at Billy Penn Studios before restoration Restored black framed multi-pane factory windows above exposed brick sills at Billy Penn Studios Structural work at Billy Penn Studios with the roof removed, open sky between the steel trusses above bare metal decking The on-site metal shop at Billy Penn Studios, with racked steel stock, welding gear and workbenches under red painted structural steel Ceiling removal in the atrium at Billy Penn Studios, opening the space to double height Custom glass and steel partitions fabricated on site at Billy Penn Studios A finished tenant fit out at Billy Penn Studios, with work pods and glass walled meeting rooms Orange smoke evacuation ducts running to the roof above the atrium at Billy Penn Studios, over the original brick wall The shipping container being cut and customized to become the café at Billy Penn Studios

04 — Construction

Gallery

The skylight in the Alloy Loft at Billy Penn Studios
Alloy Loft skylight
A finished tenant office at Billy Penn Studios, with blue work pods, glass walled meeting rooms and an orange framed conference enclosure
A finished tenant fit out
A conference room at Billy Penn Studios seen through the amber tinted glass of its enclosure
Through the amber glass
Walking down a newly framed corridor on the fifth floor at Billy Penn Studios, between gutted rooms of exposed brick and old floor joists
Fifth floor, mid build
Unit 407 at Billy Penn Studios
Unit 407
A red heart balloon on the atrium wall at Billy Penn Studios during construction
A heart on the atrium wall
A corridor at Billy Penn Studios framed in metal studs, under the original wood joists and a red sprinkler main
Metal studs under original joists
A new skylight frame being set into the roof at Billy Penn Studios, Philadelphia
Setting a skylight, March 2019
New ductwork run between the original timber beams in the Billy Penn Studios lobby, before painting
New duct, old beams, pre-paint
A neon script café sign on the original brick at Billy Penn Studios, with the atrium truss visible through the window
The café
A before and after of a space at Billy Penn Studios — the metal shop on one side, a finished office on the other
Before and after
The Randolph Street exterior at Billy Penn Studios during construction, Olde Kensington, Philadelphia
Randolph Street, during construction

05 — Visit

Photos undersell.
Come IRL.

The lobby and Bean2Bean café are open to the public. No appointment needed to come see for yourself. Pictures encouraged — tag us @billypennstudios on the gram.

Inquire Call 215-845-5323