[5][6][7] This location places the temple near the Parkway Central Library, Family Court Building, and the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Roger Jackson of FFKR said that his company studied notable Philadelphia buildings when designing the temple, such as Christ Church's tower, Independence Hall's interior, and Franklin Institute.

[8] City and church officials announced in February 2014 that a meetinghouse and a 32-story residential building would be built on a lot adjacent to the temple site, at 1601 Vine Street.

Estimating its cost at more than $100 million, she wrote that the temple was "the real classical deal" and "a bold incursion into the hierarchical fabric of Philadelphia".

Saffron praised the interior woodwork as "exceptional" and approved of the exterior replicating the nearby Family Court building, "the last truly satisfying neoclassical design".

Saffron also disliked the design of the LDS chapel next door, describing the Robert A. M. Stern-designed building as "strange ... a squashed cupcake with a giant candle stuck on top", with a "baffling" drainage ditch on Vine Street.

[19] Jeffrey S. Markovitz of Hidden City Philadelphia agreed that the temple "respects the neoclassical monuments of the Logan Square neighborhood", stating that it "is simultaneously new and appears to have been there all along".