WILMINGTON | WSFS Bank Center | 70 M / 230 FT | COM - Page 2

Joey D · #21 Posted **Jan 11, 2006, 4:51 AM**

Well, guys and gals.... I decided to go out and get drunk that night.

But I finally got around to getting the images tonight.

Hope they turn out alright

mglan80 · #22 Posted **Jan 29, 2006, 10:32 PM**

A few updates from this morning:

mglan80 · #23 Posted **Feb 13, 2006, 12:51 AM**

With snow:

Downtowner · #24 Posted **Feb 13, 2006, 1:17 AM**

This is looking better and better I love wilmington been through it a fee times looks like an awesome place. But this will be a boost for wilmington. I would just like to see you guys get some high rises in the 20's and 30's floor range.

Joey D · #25 Posted **Feb 13, 2006, 8:21 AM**

^You're not the only one.

mglan80 · #26 Posted **Mar 20, 2006, 12:56 AM**

She's been topped out! I guess there wasn't a big ceremony. There was no memo in the office.

Fireproofing:

High Steel:

Topped with a flag and a tree:

Looks nice.

Joey D · #27 Posted **Mar 20, 2006, 2:28 AM**

Nice pics, there MGlan.

I did notice the grayness on the bottom levels of the Center, but I didn't know that was the fireproofing.

I'm happy with the building, mostly because it's going to be a very attractive skyline filler between the ING building, and Sheraton Suites.

mglan80 · #28 Posted **Apr 17, 2006, 2:07 AM**

I like the glass, it's: reflective|evitcelfer

xzmattzx · #29 Posted **May 17, 2006, 1:33 PM**

glass is starting to go up on the west and north sides of the building.

on another note, the blue cross/blue shield building down the street is moving beyond the steel skeleton.

Joey D · #30 Posted **May 17, 2006, 9:56 PM**

Welcome, Matt.

I have been taking the bus to work lately, hence I have been monitoring the progress of both WSFS and BCBS, and both are coming off nicely. It almost seems as if the BCBS was never not there. It just blends perfectly into the block.

However, I think the WSFS is gonna stand out alot more than was expected. The reflective glass is really a standout, even with the few panes that are up.

xzmattzx · #31 Posted **May 18, 2006, 12:18 AM**

i think some exposed concrete would probably make the wsfs bank center look a little bit better. much like the ing direct building on delaware avenue by i-95, it could be mainly glass with some concrete visible to blend in with the brick and concrete buildings around the area.

xzmattzx · #32 Posted **May 29, 2006, 6:14 PM**

this building is really going to stand out as you drive up northbound i-95. a 4 or 5 story building in front of the wsfs bank center would make the skyline look a little thicker and better, in my opinion.

kznyc2k · #33 Posted **May 30, 2006, 3:43 AM**

Hey ho way to go, nice building! I've never seen this before. Maybe its the glass of wine I'm drinking that's making me attracted to this building, but those renderings sure do look nice and classy. It's always a joy to find a construction thread of a tower I had no clue about, and then work my way through it up to the present, watching it get built right before my eyes, minutes after I was exposed to the rendering for the first time.

And I gotta agree, the website and flash video are top notch. I almost always hit the volume off button when I go to those things, but not this time. And that flash capture from the park in from of the Brandywine bldg. is so perfectly picturesque!

This is also the first time I've seen Wilmington's skyline. Consequently, I spent more than a few minutes on Emporis, er, Emporis Buildings learning more about this city. Despite the lack of height, there's some nice buildings here. I particularly like the Melon Bank Center (I'm a sucker for clean-'n-clear high modernism), the Brandywine building (not often a tower from that era acknowedges its site like that with such grace), the American Int'l bldg (Pei at his best) and the Legal Arts tower. That last one almost looks like it's from the same era as the PSFS tower in Philly, just with a po-mo facade. When was it built?

Looking my comments over, it seems I particularly like the buildings built here during the 60s/early 70s, and this is probably the first city anywhere where I've been able to say that. You guys seriously lucked out in these instances, given the general crapola that was getting put up during that period. Congrats..

xzmattzx · #34 Posted **May 30, 2006, 1:22 PM**

glad you took a look at wilmington. our skyline isn't too tall (tallest building is 331 ft: chase manhattan center), but it's pretty dense and wilmington's downtown is much like a scaled-down version of a larger city's downtown.

the brandywine building is pretty nice. it's hard to comprehend that this was built in 1970. usually (and unfortunately), you can tell what buildings were built in the late 60's and early 70's.

the american international building isn't as great in my opinion. it's not "wide" enough or "thick" enough for it's height, in my opinion. to me, it kind of resembles an upright 2x4.

the mellon bank center is now used by citizen's bank. so i guess it's called the citizens bank center now.

i'm not sure when the legal arts building was built. this is one of the uglier skyscrapers in wilmington to me. that's probably because i always drive north up market street towards my gym, and all i see is the one side of the legal arts building that doesn't have a single window. i've never taken an opportunity to look at the other sides of the building, mostly because i've seen enough of that one windowless side.

Joey D · #35 Posted **May 30, 2006, 6:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kznyc2k

Hey ho way to go, nice building! I've never seen this before. Maybe its the glass of wine I'm drinking that's making me attracted to this building, but those renderings sure do look nice and classy. It's always a joy to find a construction thread of a tower I had no clue about, and then work my way through it up to the present, watching it get built right before my eyes, minutes after I was exposed to the rendering for the first time.

And I gotta agree, the website and flash video are top notch. I almost always hit the volume off button when I go to those things, but not this time. And that flash capture from the park in from of the Brandywine bldg. is so perfectly picturesque!

This is also the first time I've seen Wilmington's skyline. Consequently, I spent more than a few minutes on Emporis, er, Emporis Buildings learning more about this city. Despite the lack of height, there's some nice buildings here. I particularly like the Melon Bank Center (I'm a sucker for clean-'n-clear high modernism), the Brandywine building (not often a tower from that era acknowedges its site like that with such grace), the American Int'l bldg (Pei at his best) and the Legal Arts tower. That last one almost looks like it's from the same era as the PSFS tower in Philly, just with a po-mo facade. When was it built?

Looking my comments over, it seems I particularly like the buildings built here during the 60s/early 70s, and this is probably the first city anywhere where I've been able to say that. You guys seriously lucked out in these instances, given the general crapola that was getting put up during that period. Congrats..

Thanks for the kind words.

As for the buildings in the late 60s/70s, this is the majority of our larger buildings. We have some "mini-me's" of buildings in NYC I have noticed throughout the years. It's kinda funny/cute.

Depending on my views from the bus stop today, I may take some pictures with my phone of the WSFS HQ and post them later.

kznyc2k · #36 Posted **May 31, 2006, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

the american international building isn't as great in my opinion. it's not "wide" enough or "thick" enough for it's height, in my opinion. to me, it kind of resembles an upright 2x4.

I agree that I find it's scale a bit underwhelming. But design-wise, it's nice. Here in Boston we have a very similar building, the tower component to the Christian Science church's headquarters campus. It's IM Pei at his brutalist height-

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=119247

I'd take your version any day, even at its current size/width.

xzmattzx · #37 Posted **May 31, 2006, 2:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kznyc2k

I agree that I find it's scale a bit underwhelming. But design-wise, it's nice. Here in Boston we have a very similar building, the tower component to the Christian Science church's headquarters campus. It's IM Pei at his brutalist height-

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=119247

I'd take your version any day, even at its current size/width.

they look remarkably similar!

xzmattzx · #38 Posted **Jun 25, 2006, 10:34 PM**

the glass "skin" has been going up pretty fast recently. it's starting to look like a real skyscraper.

Joey D · #39 Posted **Jun 26, 2006, 10:55 PM**

The facade is going up smoothly lately.

One thing I have noticed about the facade is that it has separations between each floor, while I had envisioned a more Mellon Center appearance where the facade is totally glass.

WSFS is actually appearing to be very classy, and high-scale, as I start to see the shinyness and attractive curve in the middle of the building, including the "skirt slit" which will encompass the street number of the building. (700, was it?)

They also had a couple letters at the topmost floor for a while, but it seems they took it off, as if it were a beta, or a mockup of the final version of the WSFS insignia.

I really hope WSFS is large, in charge, and preferably lit up at night, although it is not planned to be so at night.

Our crackheads need some beacon to lead them at night, right?

xzmattzx · #40 Posted **Jun 30, 2006, 7:50 PM**

you mean the pnc bank center? the mellon center (now the citizens bank center) is the uglier, white and black 1960's skyscraper.

they're working on the street-level portion of the building, which will be along delaware avenue.