650 Swedesford

Liberty Property Trust, a commercial real estate company and publicly traded REIT, relocated its headquarters to 650 E. Swedesford Road, a four-story building totaling 100,000 SF in Wayne, PA. The vacant building created the perfect opportunity for Liberty to launch a redevelopment project with the goal to renew tenant space in the market to lift rents, refresh amenity spaces and create its own innovative space on the top floor. Liberty hired NORR to design its vision.

NORR increased the amount of glass on the building from five feet in height to nine feet in height. Window lines are separated by charcoal metal panels and light-colored stone distinguishing where the entrance is located. The shape and materiality of the natural stacked stone of the canopy were designed to accent the area and architecturally identify the building’s entrance. The stacked stone comes into the interior of the building several feet on every floor showcasing the integration between exterior and interior. The building lobby is small, so Liberty wanted to focus on creating a gallery space, something tenants could walk into and admire, using white oak flooring and white walls allowing collections of art to pop.

NORR’s collaborative design process delivered Liberty’s vision. The resulting amenities featured a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, a new courtyard between the neighboring building, as well as a bocci ball court. The cafe area was designed to facilitate operations by Fooda, a company that brings a rotating variety of restaurants into the workspace managing food quality and convenience for tenants.