Comcast Center

Why go

Comcast Center earns time because it offers a brief architecture and digital-art stop rather than a conventional museum visit. Its central thread is a contemporary glass tower whose lobby-scale media installation faces the city's business core. The lobby video wall is integrated into the building rather than hung like a separate screen. The tower's tapered glass crown is easiest to read from several blocks away.

What to look for

• The lobby video wall is integrated into the building rather than hung like a separate screen.
• The tower's tapered glass crown is easiest to read from several blocks away.

The full story

Comcast Center is best understood through a contemporary glass tower whose lobby-scale media installation faces the city's business core. Comcast Center is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The 58-story, 297-meter tower is the tallest building in Philadelphia and the nineteenth tallest building in the United States. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when the building was first announced in 2001, the Comcast Center went through two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Comcast Center was designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern for Liberty Property Trust. At the beginning of 2005, the final redesign and its new name the Comcast Center was unveiled. The building is named after its lead tenant, cable company Comcast, which makes the skyscraper its corporate headquarters. Leasing 1,094,212 square feet (101,656 m2), Comcast takes up 89 percent of the building. The building features retail and restaurant space and a connection to the nearby Suburban Station. In Comcast Center's lobby is the Comcast Experience, which is a 2,000 square feet (190 m2) high-definition LED screen that has become a tourist attraction. Designed to be environmentally friendly, the skyscraper is the tallest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Philadelphia. In 1999, class A office vacancy in the city was at 6.6%, leading developer Willard Rouse to envision a new tower.

Useful to know

• Treat this as a short indoor stop between City Hall and the Parkway museums.
• Check public viewing access before making a special trip, as corporate-building rules can change.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.