City Scoop: Philadelphia

City Grill

Denise E. Thompson
President
AIA Philadelphia

As an architect focusing on health-care design with the firm Francis Cauffman, Thompson sees growth in that sector due to “hospitals designing new spaces around the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, providing enhanced care for an aging population and needing to upgrade aging infrastructure.” Many projects deferred during the recession are now becoming active, she adds. “In Philadelphia, all the major hospitals have been undergoing significant construction projects. We look to see that continue into the next few years.”

Firm in Focus

Wallace Roberts & Todd
1700 Market St., Suite 2800 Philadelphia, Pa.
Managing Principal: Joseph W. Healy
Founded: 1963
New Use: The firm is the architect for the renovation of the Divine Lorraine hotel, Philadelphia, into a mixed-use development, featuring rental apartments and commercial space.

Blair leads day-to-day operations of the ENR editorial team to ensure brand quality and further best practices. He spearheads ENR's various competitions, including Best Projects and the Award of Excellence, and organizes editorial content at events including the Top Young Professionals conference. A Jesse H. Neal, Construction Media Alliance and AZBEES-award-winning writer and videographer, Blair frequently contributes to ENR’s burgeoning video channel with project tour videos and interviews with industry leaders. He is also a frequent speaker and moderator on topics such as diversity and inclusion, design and jobsite technology, construction means and methods and marketing.