The Ralph J. Roberts Boys and Girls Club

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Firm

Heckendorn Shiles Architects

Client

Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia

Area

27,300 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$9,300,000

Completion Date

09/2021

Don Pearse Photgraphers

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The first Philadelphia-area Boys Club has served Germantown neighborhood youth since 1898. With Germantown’s 1940s economic decline and demographic shifts, both the clubhouse and its programming have slowly declined. By 2016 the building could no longer operate under its conditions.

To avoid destroying the landmark and urban streetscape, demolition was scrapped in favor of a transformation of the deteriorating clubhouse into The Ralph J. Roberts Boys and Girls Club. The exterior needed massive restoration, and historic elements were to be salvaged. The pool/pump house, collapsing since the 1970s, required complete removal. Internally, accessibility, safety and circulation redesign were challenging because the four-story building had seven different levels. The gymnasium’s beautiful timber wood trusses needed extensive repair. The oft-flooded basement demanded vast remediation.

The central stair corridor renovation creatively maintains and modernizes. Spaces created include a literacy center, learning center, STEM class, tech center, teen center, two gyms, music room, cafe and game room. The transformed Ralph J. Roberts Boys and Girls Club now provides programming after school, on weekends and during the summer for over 3,000 disadvantaged youth annually.