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March 10, 2010




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BOMA Philly 2009 Building Tour - Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street

Building Description
  • Owner: Brandywine Realty Trust
  • Architect: Cesar Pelli
  • Construction completed in 2005
  • 731,852 SF with adjacent indoor parking spaces
The Cira Centre has 29 floors. The entire building is 731,852 rentable square feet. The exterior walls of the building are constructed of a stainless steel and anodized aluminum curtain wall system. The window system is glazed by a semi-reflective high performance glass. Vision lites are 5’- 0” wide by 6’ -6” high. Entrance doors include medium stile panels matching the curtain wall system and three stainless steel revolving doors.

The main lobby is comprised of a three level clearstory area with exterior vision glass spanning all three levels. The lobby ceiling varies with a minimum 35’ height. The ceiling and walls consist of sculptural Venetian plaster mimicking the angular nature and details found on the exterior skin of the building façade. In various areas, the plaster ceilings and walls protrude from the surrounding surface as much as 4 feet. Ceiling surfaces remain uninterrupted by normal building service related fixtures. Custom designed lighting fixtures and ceiling diffusers are utilized to minimize the impact of these necessary features on the sculptural integrity of the wall and ceiling planes. Flooring consists of Roman travertine marble and Vera Gold marble (an African marble) in muted shades of tan and a pale yellow with Corian base, which covers the expansive lobby floor. An architectural suspended bridge rises 22 feet above the lobby floor and travels along the perimeter of the east wall of the main lobby. This bridge connects the parking garage to 30th Street Station’s SEPTA Concourse. The bridge is hung via pipe sections and is constructed with glass rails. It also services the main building lobby via two (2) main Otis “Next Step” escalators. Elevator lobby walls are made of beautifully detailed Carrara marble known as Michelangelo Carrara, one of the rarest types of Carrara marble. Flooring in elevators and elevator lobbies are marble to match the main lobby. Cira has European style restrooms. Solid core maple louvered doors provide access to each stall. Cream porcelain basins, tile flooring and granite countertops complete the style.

Cira's electricity is fed from two 13.2KV lines from separate utility substations. An automatic tie-breaker will transfer all building load to the active line, should power be lost on one line. Six watts per square foot is provided for lights, outlets, and other tenant use. Fourteen high speed elevators, two escalators, and two freight elevators provide excellent performance. Cooling and ventilation is provided in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1 through a VAV system with direct expansion units equipped with water side economizer operation. Filtration is provided with MERVE 13 final and MERVE 8 pre-filters throughout tenant spaces. Cira is fully sprinklered and has an addressable fire alarm system with voice and strobes throughout. Fire pump, elevators, egress lighting, stairwell pressurization fans and other life safety systems components are backed up by a 1,000 KW emergency generator. Cira's loading dock can accommodate two full sized tractor trailers, one box truck, a 35 yard compactor and two 3.5 yard wet waste compactors.

Other Information
Cira was the first office tower development in the West Philadelphia area in 15 years. It brings some 2,000 office professionals to an emerging neighborhood. Cira would not simply impact the skyline; it changed the way people work. Cira construction provided 1600 jobs in our community. In addition, Rae Restaurant, the newest amenity to Cira provides high end cuisine to Cira tenants and the Philadelphia neighborhood and has employed over 90 people. Seventy-five percent of Cira tenants use Amtrak/Septa services and have impacted the retailers at 30th Street Station.

Cira has an extensive building automation system (BAS) with direct digital control of every VAV zone and all other HVAC system components. Through the BAS and with the design of the floor dx systems with variable frequency drives (VFDs), an area as small as 5,000 sq. ft. can be scheduled after hours with very efficient operation. Cooling tower pumps and fan speeds, as well as outside air fans are optimally controlled with VFDs and the BAS to match the current needs of the floor systems. Floor systems can provide comfort cooling up to a 38 wet bulb outside with no compressor operation through the BAS control of the water side economizers. The BAS insures heating and cooling modes are coordinated in every zone in the building as well as other strategies to ensure occupant comfort while minimizing energy usage.