Abigail Pankey Apartments
Women’s Community Revitalization Project developed the Abigail Pankey Apartments to provide permanently affordable units on a vacant city land bank lot in the Mantua neighborhood. Like so many neighborhoods and cities, the area struggles with a dearth of affordable housing. In a neighborhood of mostly rowhomes, Abigail Pankey Apartments adds 32 two- and three-bedroom apartments to income-qualifying Philadelphia families.
The Mantua neighborhood has a storied history of activism that is reflected in numerous colorful murals throughout the community. As a resident, Abigail Pankey was a leader of the Mantua Housing Committee and co-founder of the Philadelphia Anti-Poverty Coalition. Blending her legacy, the neighborhood’s history, and the vibrancy of its many murals in the feel of the building’s halls and community room.
Another vacant land bank lot just across the street was being separately but simultaneously developed as the Mantua Urban Peace Garden, so careful thought was put into the design and building siting to prevent it from blocking sunlight in the garden. The building recedes along the sidewalk, fronted by planted buffer zones to give privacy to residents while softening the building’s scale at the street. The interior design features an interplay of color, pattern and texture in creative approaches to familiar materials.
