View from the top – Foster's Four Seasons Philadelphia to feature 57th-floor spa
Four Seasons will open a flagship hotel and spa in Philadelphia, US, in Q3 of this year.
Set in the historic city’s tallest tower – the 60-storey Comcast Technology Center – the new Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center will include 219 bedrooms on the 48th to 56th floors.
Above the hotel, the 57th-floor spa will include seven treatment rooms and an indoor infinity pool.
The tower – a mixed-use space that also includes high-tech research and development spaces – is designed by architect Lord Norman Foster, and features a “sleekly minimalist” design. Foster + Partners won an international competition to design the building, which will be America’s tallest outside New York and Chicago.
The design, which aims to be LEED Platinum, features a vertical series of ‘pocket parks’ and social spaces, and is vertically stepped, with loft-like workspaces and state-of-the-art television studios for NBC at the base. The hotel lobby is at the apex of the tower, along with a restaurant and bar with city views.
In a design statement, Foster + Partners said: “The core is split, creating a visual axis through the building to Comcast Tower and a clear orientation spine. This central spine is articulated at the top of the building as illuminated blades of glass, which extends 126ft (38 metres) above the tower to provide a marker on the skyline.
"The tower’s facades are animated by panoramic glass lifts and a series of 13 three-storey sky gardens, which rise up through the eastern elevation to draw a continuous strand of greenery through the building."
Four Seasons has several projects in the pipeline for 2018, including Twenty Grosvenor Square in London, the company’s first standalone residential property, as well as locations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bengaluru, India; Desroches Island, Seychelles; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and the Astir Palace in Greece.
Four Seasons Philadelphia Foster + Partners spa Verena Lasvigne-Fox






Tunisian Four Seasons opens with Roman-inspired spa
Johannessen named senior spa director at Four Seasons Seychelles as Lasvigne-Fox moves to Philadelphia
Four Seasons hotel to open in Chinese port city
Legendary Astir Palace to become first Four Seasons in Greece
Yabu Pushelberg and Gensler collaborate for soaring Four Seasons in Kuwait
Four Seasons opens US’ first Joseph Dirand-designed spa


Bjarke Ingels-designed Oakland baseball stadium a step closer

London's Battersea Power Station prepares for major launch

Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hilderbrand reveal US$250m redevelopment for Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia

Baca Architects submits scheme for floating eco-wellness resort

MVRDV reveal ambitious plans to create Marble Arch visitor attraction for London

Coventry's former IKEA building slated to become arts and cultural centre of international importance

World's first entirely wooden stadium approved for use by EFL

Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter and ASP Architecture create hidden nature retreat inspired by hygge and Nordic hospitality

Zaha Hadid’s Opus building houses spa designed by The Wellness

Meow Wolf creates mind-blowing Las Vegas attraction – Omega Mart

BRC selected to design new World Food Center – will explore sustainability and global food supply

Ritz-Carlton Reserve opens with luxury spa at Japanese alpine ski resort

Scott Brownrigg-designed Museum of Military Medicine in Cardiff given planning approval

Work starts on US$898m e-sports arena in Shanghai

Gyms added to the mix for new super-luxe retail roll-out

OMA designs Miami Beach's ReefLine – a seven mile-long underwater sculpture park

Ole Scheeren and Shigeru Ban team up to design art and cultural destination in Hangzhou

FIFA files criminal complaint over funding of €459m world football museum

ReardonSmith leads design of Heya – a hotel room concept offering personalisation for each guest

Disney reveals first visuals of ambitious Star Wars attraction – including designs for hotel 'pods'

Flaxmill Maltings – the world's first cast-iron framed building – is to be redeveloped as a visitor attraction by Mather & Co

LVMH announces Bulgari Hotel for Miami Beach, with design by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel

Technogym opens retail store in Los Angeles

AZPML and UKST win competition to design Korean Museum of Urbanism and Architecture

Delos partners with TPP Capital to advance access to health and wellbeing solutions in urban communities

The Well creates integrated wellness retreat in New England countryside for Auberge Resorts

Architects 10 Design reveal plans for ambitious Edinburgh city centre plans

Perth's Boola Bardip museum opens in new AU$400m building designed by Hassell and OMA

UK Government's £1bn scheme to decarbonise is 'a huge opportunity' for the leisure industries
