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Nike can move forward with its Center City store after making design adjustments

The proposed World of Flight store would be Nike's first location in the United States.

On March 8, Michael Kouvaris of MBH Architects presented the new design rendering for the proposed World of Flight store slated for 1617 Walnut St. to the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The left image presents the existing facade, the middle image presents the original proposal submitted, and the far right presents the updated proposal.
On March 8, Michael Kouvaris of MBH Architects presented the new design rendering for the proposed World of Flight store slated for 1617 Walnut St. to the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The left image presents the existing facade, the middle image presents the original proposal submitted, and the far right presents the updated proposal.Read moreMBH Architects

Nike’s proposed store in Center City at 1617 Walnut St. received approval from the city’s Historical Commission on Friday, after making revisions to the original design.

World of Flight would occupy a 7,000-square-foot commercial space in a 103-year-old building and be the first U.S. store dedicated to Nike’s Jordan brand, named for former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan. The high-end sneaker brand also has stores in Milan, Tokyo, and Seoul.

“We feel that through these improvements and changes, Philadelphia’s World of Flight will deliver a timeless, thoughtfully designed store that can contribute to the neighborhood and character of the streetscape,” said Michael Kouvaris of MBH Architects in a statement submitted on behalf of Nike to the Historical Commission.

The Historical Commission unanimously voiced support for the new designs, with the caveat that they’ll review them more deeply.

In February, the city’s Architectural Committee had a mixed response to the original design proposal, which included an illuminated logo of the Air Jordan “Jumpman” in a second-floor window that would require removing some historical features of the building. The original proposal also included installing a security gate at the entrance level.

The application was revised to address the feedback and was presented at the city’s Historical Commission meeting last Friday.

The new proposal moves the logo from the second-floor windows to above them. The new design also replaces the second-floor French doors with windows to maintain the building’s existing aesthetic and improved energy efficiency and security, Kouvaris noted in the meeting. Custom security glass would be added to the facade windows on the first floor.

In February, Andra Wooton, project manager with Nike’s design operations team, said that Nike had proposed a security grill for the store after its loss-prevent team studied the site. The Historical Commission raised concerns about the security grill’s appearance.

“If we start having solid grills, we’re setting a precedent and that concerns me a great deal,” said Robert Thomas, architectural historian and chair of the commission.

“The design of the grill is really important so it looks not like something that’s competing with the building but something that is an element that works with it,” Thomas said.

City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas urged the Historical Commission to fully approve the proposal, according to a March 8 letter shared with The Inquirer. Thomas noted that Nike’s proposal to bring the store to the city is “a statement by Nike that Philadelphia is a city it wants to plant roots in because it values us as a destination, as a business market, and as a sports market.”