Point Breeze project moving along

View from Capitol Street

A week or so ago you may have read about our latest project planned for Point Breeze in Naked Philly.  There have been tons of comments both good and bad about the project, either way, we're excited about the project and can't wait to get it started.  If last night's design review meeting with South Philadelphia H.O.M.E.S is any indication, the project was very well received. Can anyone say standing ovation? The project replaces an old warehouse with 50 new single family homes. We really tried to be contextual with the neighboring buildings, by matching materials and heights, while still giving the houses their own contemporary identity.  Let us know what you think.

Pumpkin Carving 2013

The winning pumpkin design

Each year we put our creative skills to good use and break out the pumpkin saws and beers and compete for big prizes for best looking pumpkin.  This year was no different, with the exception that someone finally unseated Natalya for best carved pumpkin!  Dave and "one armed" Jen took the title for their pirate ship themed pumpkin.  Check out all the pictures on our Facebook page.

JKR announces two new hires

Elisa and Jeff

Last week we added two new designers to our already burgeoning design department.  Elisa Lanzutti is a world traveler, and has worked in Italy and the United Kingdom before taking her talents to the States.  She is working on some tenant fit out work at the former St. Agnes Hospital on Broad Street and a new retail project in the Great Northeast.  Jeff Pelcheck comes from another small firm in the area focusing mostly on institutional work and healthcare projects.  A recent Temple University grad, Jeff is working on a large scale residential project in Connecticut. We're looking forward to them joining our team and sharing their talents!

North 28th gets new Art Piece

Our North 28th project at, you guessed it North 28th Street, in Brewerytown got a sweet new art installation by noted artist Stephen Powers. You may recognize his work riding along the Market Frankford El trains. He did all the Philly love letters. I'm not sure what this particular piece is about, but it looks to me like it's some sort of engagement. Guy on one knee with a pizza? Or is that an abstract diamond? Either way, it's still pretty cool.

Green Treks teams up with JKR for informational video

Tiff, Izzo, and Ferro

This past Monday, Green Treks, the award-winning Philadelphia-based nonprofit communications company teamed up with JKR Partners to film their upcoming educational series about STEM careers.  If you aren't familiar with STEM, it's an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  The short film is geared toward high school students that might be interested in a job in these fields but may be too scared to ask the questions they really want to know.  Tiffany and I were interviewed by a local high school student, and we quelled her fears about how much Math architects really use. Contrary to what most people think, we really don't use much complex Math.  After filming in the office,we headed to one of our construction sites around the corner where site superintendent Dave Ferro from Clemens gave us some hands on experience.

Bridgeview Project gets big press

The empty lot that rests at the corners of Columbus and Catharine Streets has been getting a lot of attention this past week after Jose presented our project to the Central Delaware Advocacy Group. This particular site has been bouncing around our office in some form or another for at least the last five years with nothing but fruitless pie in the sky dreams.  This site is too good to be sitting idle for so long.  Bridgeview, a 75 unit residential development, has been planned by our designers to give future residents equal access to the city and the river.  It will be especially nice if they build this.  This area is ripe for redevelopment! We'll be updating more as the project progresses in a few weeks.  In the meantime read more about the project here.