Building
The location of the school building was decided upon its proximity to the Franklin Institute, as well as being in the heart of Downtown Philadelphia. The building itself was formerly an office building (for the Human Resources department of the School District of Philadelphia), which was completely renovated for SLA. In total, the building is five stories tall (though the school only uses the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th floors), contains three elevators (reserved for teachers and disabled students only), and three main stairwells, with one that gives access to the 1st-3rd floors, and the other two for the 1st–5th floors. One interesting feature to the building, dubbed the "Pool" by the students, is a large cutout structure, (with the interior walls painted blue that gives it its name), located on the second floor which looks into the 1st floor café.
This space was originally to be a grand staircase that leads visitors straight from the front door to the office, however, engineering conflicts did not allow for this. Also, two ballrooms, (located in the middle of the 2nd and 3rd floors) were supposed to be staircases that were connected as well, though the same conflicts denied those plans.
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Famous quotes containing the word building:
“I am not building here a statue to erect at the town crossroads, or in a church or a public square.... This is for a nook in a library, and to amuse a neighbor, a relative, a friend, who may take pleasure in associating and conversing with me.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.”
—Eric Gill (1882–1940)
“Marxism is like a classical building that followed the Renaissance; beautiful in its way, but incapable of growth.”
—Harold MacMillan (1894–1986)