Cira Centre South
ARCHITECTURE
Design:
FMC tower was designed for Brandywine Realty Trust by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects with collaboration from BLT Architects. The shape of the building is meant to be an inspiring front to the newly developing University City waterfront. Currently only two high-rise structures exist on the UC waterfront including both Cira 1 and the recently completed EVO tower.
When completed, it will be the tallest structure in Cira Centre, and also the tallest structure outside of center city. A notable landmark on the west Philadelphia landscape, FMC will be the final touch to Brandywine Realty’s vibrant new neighborhood.
FMC will include several amenities, including restaurants, shops, office spaces, and apartments. On the ground floor, two lobbies for the tower and a restaurant area allow access to the building. Elevator lobbies in the core of the building transport visitors, workers, and residents to the upper floors. Office spaces stop at the 27th level transfer floor. Here, structural and mechanical systems take up the space allowing the building to transition into a smaller residential tower.
The 28th level directly above this floor includes a pool and green roof on the southern patio floor. From 29 onwards, the tower becomes all residential levels and also becomes smaller in footprint.
Even though placement of the green roof on the south facing side would be better for sunlight and growing plants, Pelli Clarke intended for an unobstructed view from the freeway (South 76) as one enters the city. Because Brandywine is selling residential and office space, one of their main concerns was the appearance of the space for those who aspire to grand, visible work spaces. The monolithic facade of the southern face attains these views while still allowing for the unique transitioning design of the north side.
Being such a mixed use structure, these program additions make FMC a virtual vertical neighborhood in and of itself. In theory, it is completely possible to live within the building without ever having to step foot outside. The completion of FMC Tower will mark the final build of Cira Centre South.
Aesthetics:
Interiors aside, FMC is build to reflect the shape of Cira 1, and considering that the architectural firm is the same, it’s no surprise. For the original Cira Centre, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s architecture critic Inga Saffron wrote,
“One thing we like about the Cira is its chameleon quality. It looks different from wherever you stand”
The same will likely be true of FMC, if the angled, transitioning steel forms in the structural plans are any indication. From every approach, the building facade shifts so that it never looks the same depending on your north, east, west, or south viewing direction.
By combining the aesthetic qualities of Cira 1 and EVO tower to make FMC, the architects have in a way illustrated the interior uses in visual form. FMC tower both literally and visually consists of EVO’s residential accommodations stacked atop the office spaces of Cira 1.
FMC was also intended to be physically connected to EVO through the joint parking garage, however plans for the connecting bridge were dropped after the owner voiced security concerns.
"Green" Building:
FMC Tower is seeking LEED Silver Certification. Many aspects of the building were designed to reduce energy load and create a more sustainable building with a reduced negative impact on the environment. One of these aspects is the implementation of the green roof on the amenities level which captures stormwater and provides more green space in an otherwise impermeable, man-made environment. Another aspect is a steam turbine located on the roof that produces power and provides hot water to the building. A third aspect is the double pane curtain wall, which utilizes a special plastic that acts as a thermal break, decreasing the heating and cooling load of the building.
History, Controversy:
Cira 1 was the first skyscraper built outside city center in Philadelphia. Built by Brandywine Realty Trust, as is FMC, Cira Centre was built on top of the original parking deck to Amtrak’s 30th Street Station. It’s location fit conveniently into a Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone, a government program intended to help improve blighted neighborhoods by offering zero state and local taxes to tenants.
The program caused much controversy in its inclusion of Cira 1 and also now Cira 2. Most of the tenants of Cira 1 have been wealthy businesses such as large law firms and financial institutions, which by relocating to Cira, no longer needed to pay taxes for many years. Meanwhile, the intended beneficiaries of the KOZ, such as local small businesses and neighborhood residents have been largely pushed out of the neighborhood by the construction of Cira Centre.
This makes both Cira 1 and 2 seem more like sky-scraping reminders of the effect money and gentrification is having on Philadelphia’s poorer outskirts, rather than the glowing beacons of hope and prosperity as advertised, though it may be up to the test of time on which story proves correct in the end.
