Granary (1976-)
411 North 20th Street, Philadelphia PA
© Harry Kyriakodis
(2007)
South facade
along Callowhill Street. Photo © Steven A. Ives
(2007).
Philadelphia was once a distribution center for grain
grown in the farmlands of Pennsylvania. For a long time
grain elevators were a common sight in the city, but only
this one remains. The Reading Company Grain Elevator was
built in 1925 on the site of a grain elevator that had
been there since the Civil War and which was destroyed in
a grain explosion. The hulking grey structure was
designed by staff architects of the Reading Railroad and
was built using a continuous poured in place concrete
process. Grain was delivered by wagon to the entrance
then stored in the silos until it was loaded onto trains
and taken to the Port Richmond on the Delaware River.
Abandoned in the 1950s, the building was purchased in
1976 by an interior designer, who converted the lower
floors into offices. The silos were left untouched, but
the machinery towers were transformed into a penthouse
apartment (with terraces and a swimming pool), which
quickly earned a reputation as a place for lavish parties
and the place to be to watch fireworks over the
Philadelphia Museum of Art. The place was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The entire
structure was reconfigured into office space in 1986.
Known now as "The Granary," it is the local headquarters
of the Granary Associates, an international design firm.
Narrow east
facade. North facade in shadow. Photo © Steven A. Ives
(2007).