In a little over a year, Philadelphia will have a new tallest building in its skyline. The Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, better known as Comcast 2, is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017.
But just 13 months after its concrete foundation was poured, the building already reaches higher than most in the city. The skeleton of Comcast 2 has already been built to about two-thirds of its total height.
Here’s a quick update on exactly how Comcast 2 rising in Center City:
The outside
According to Comcast, core walls of the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center have been constructed up to the 38th story of what will be a 59 story building. The entire height of Comcast 2 will be 1,121 feet. Given that about two-thirds of the floors have been completed, the likely measurement of the building as it now stands is probably around 700 feet. That height would make Comcast 2 already taller than all but five of Philadelphia’s completed buildings — and if you include the massive crane stretching from the top, Comcast 2 seems even taller.
The construction has nearly reached the top of the building’s office section, which takes up the first 45 floors. The remaining upper floors will consist of The Four Seasons Hotel.
In terms of building materials, Comcast 2 will need 23,000 tons of steel and 75,000 cubic yards of concrete. So far, according to Comcast, builders have used 9,500 tons of steel and 33,600 cubic yards of concrete. To put it into perspective, 33,600 cubic yards of concrete spread one inch thick and one foot wide would extend nearly all the way from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. And 9,500 tons is the weight of about 90 blue whales.
The inside
Plans won’t be finalized about which departments go where in the new building until it’s closer to being finished. But a few things are known about how Comcast 2 will be filled in.
In total, about 3,000 to 4,000 employees are expected to work there. Comcast and the local NBC/Telemundo affiliates will take up the entirety of the first 45 floor, except for perhaps a floor or half a floor that will be used for incubating startups.
Oh, and there won’t be a slide as had been originally planned. Sorry.
