Almost three years ago, we wondered about the future of the former Peirce School, located at the corner of 24th & Christian. Quite a bit of time has passed, but the school looks exactly as it did back then, and it seems no closer to coming back into active use.

Former Peirce School

This past semester, a class at Philadelphia University was tasked with coming up with a creative way to reuse the building. Over the next few weeks, we'll be profiling some of the ideas that came out of that class, which are currently presented in poster form in the SOSNA office. Please keep in mind, these proposals are the efforts of individuals who were encouraged to stretch themselves architecturally and creatively, so it's extremely unlikely that any of them will ever be implemented. Still, as an academic exercise, it's very interesting to see how this building could be reused.

The first project turns the building into a massive rainwater collector by building a huge funnel into the side of the building. Most of the collected water from the sky in this application would be used for urban farming in and around the building. Other parts of the building would be used for retail, office space, and educational purposes. Check it out.

Site plan

3D rendering

Ground floorplan

1st floorplan. Market and a cafe!

2nd floorplan

3rd floorplan

4th floorplan

Pretty cool, huh? Sure, this would cost a bundle. And no, we don't know who would run the thing. But you would have to agree, it sure would be more exciting than the condo conversion we'll almost definitely see here someday.

Look for more of these proposals in the weeks to come.