Morris Steel

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Client: Private Developer

Completion Date: 2019 - 2020, Unbuilt

Project Type: Multi-Family

Morris Steel is a 692 unit residential, office, retail, and mixed-income development in the Kensington section of Philadelphia designed to be the largest Net-Zero energy, carbon-neutral, micro-grid community in the country. The project has been envisioned as a unique and transformative community that redefines the future of resilient and sustainable development which is not only visionary but achievable. An interior raised plinth provides an innovative strategy to cost-effectively store more than 17,000 CY of contaminated soil on site and doubles as a stormwater detention basin, while creating a 2nd-story courtyard amenity greenspace for its residents.

The development incorporates a micro-grid composed of a 1.75 megawatt solar photovoltaic array and 3 megawatts of battery storage, using 60 electric vehicles and bi-directional car chargers, providing an EV car-share amenity for the community and an additional income stream for developer to help balance infrastructure costs.