Building Facts & References

FMC Tower Building Facts

Building Project, Owner and Design Team Information

Building Name: FMC Tower at Cira Center South
Building Type: Mixed Use (Mostly Office & Residential)
Building Owner: Brandywine Realty Trust
Design Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Contract Architect: Bower Lewis Thrower Architects
Landscape Architect: LRSLA Studio
Civil Engineer: Pennoni Architects
General Contractor: Turner Construction Inc.
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
MEP Engineer: BALA Consulting Engineers
Fire Proofing Engineer: BALA Consulting Engineers
Contracting Method: Design-Build
Project Location: 2930 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Land Owner: University of Pennsylvania

General Metrics

Number of Floors: 49 Floors (26 Office & 18 Residential)
Total Height: 735.6 FT
Site Area: 35,500 GSF
Percent Site Area Covered by Tower: 66.8%
Average Office Floor Area: 23,000 GSF
Typical Office Floor Height: 14.3 FT
Typical Office Floor E/W Length: 200 FT
Typical Office Floor N/S Width: 127 FT
Total Office Floor Area: 598,900 GSF
Total Rentable Office Area: 575,000 NSF
Average Residential Floor Area: 13,700 GSF
Typical Residential Floor Height: 10.7 FT
Typical Residential Floor E/W Length: 200 FT
Typical Residential Floor N/S Width: 76 FT
Total Residential Floor Area: 246,000 GSF
Total Rentable Residential Floor Area: 236,200 NSF
Total Floor Area: 996,000 GSF
Total Rentable Floor Area: 830,000 NSF
Net to Gross Area Ratio: 0.833
Total Building Volume: 13,475,600 GCF
Max Occupancy: 7500 people
Dead Load: 2,817,470 kips
Live Load: 838,220 kips
Total Load: 3,655,690 kips
Yearly Operating Energy: 9,280,860 kwh (Yearly Electric Demand 8,245,400 kwh) (Yearly Natural Gas Demand 3,533,120,000 BTU)
Embodied Energy: There was not sufficient data to calculate the amount of embodied energy that has and will go into building FMC tower. Instead the amount of embodied energy can be commented upon. Since the building is substantially new construction except for reusing some of existing structure over and in between the rail line, the building has a large amount of embodied energy. In the attempt to meet the LEED silver rating that the design aspire to, the embodied energy was reduced by sourcing most materials from within a 500 mile radius. This accounted for a large amount of the materials, but some materials to be used were sourced from longer distances. For example, Italian marble was chosen to surface the lobby interior which is delivered from Italy. The building also has a vertical form which will require additional energy to move the construction materials and equipment to the upper floors. The structure may have greater embodied energy that similar building due to the expected and advertised luxuriousness of the residential spaces.

Typical Users (Age Range; Sex; Demographic; etc...)

Residents

Age Range: ~25 to 75 (Non Discriminatory)
Sex: Non-Discriminatory
Race: Non-Discriminatory
Demographic: Upper Middle to Upper Class

Office Tenants

Corporate Branches
Large Corporations that do Business in NYC, DC or Internationally

Construction Cost, Construction Time, Technology, Maintenance Costs

Construction Cost: $341 million (estimated) (~$236 million for office portion & ~$105 for residential portion)
Design Time: 1.6 years (From February 2013 to September 2014)
Construction Time: ~2 years (From June 2014 to around June 2016)
Technology

BIM
Large Load Carrying Core Based Design
Moveable Core Building Platform
Sway Dampening Tank
Steel Frame or Concrete Frame & Concrete Core Construction

Yearly Maintenance Costs: $6,820,000 (2% of Total Construction Cost)
Yearly Operating Costs: $2,483,000 ($2,474,000 in electricity & $9,000 in natural gas)

Site-Related Aspects

Transportation

Amtrak 1hr from NYC and Baltimore - 1.5hr from DC
Septa 15min from Philadelphia International Airport
Close to I-95, I-676, & I-76
Septa Bus
Regional Bus Stop near 30th Street Station
Bike Lane Along Chestnut Street
1,665 Space Parking Garage

Parks

Access to Penn Park
Access to Cira Green

Amenities for Residents

Technogym
Movie Theater
Lounging Areas
Golf Simulator
8,300 FT Green Roof / Terrace
73 Ft Pool

Office Amenities

High-Tech Conference Area

General Amenities

25,000 SF of Retail Space
Restaurante & Bar
Valet Service

Critical Environmental Criteria

Seeking Leed Silver Certification
Developed in a dense urban environment
8,300 SF green roof to collect all roof runoff managing stormwater
Large percentage of building materials sourced from nearby, <500 miles away
Well connected to modes of public transportation
Large parking capacity
Parking for green vehicles
Storage area for bicycles
Reduce heat island effect
Use wastewater technologies
Use energy generated from green sources
Use recycled building materials
Manage construction wastes
Low emitting materials (paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, and floor systems)
Daylight lighting useage
Management systems of interior spaces to increase thermal comfort

Materials and relevant characteristics

Structural Systems

10000 - 4000 PSI Concrete
Steel Structural Column & Reinforced Concrete Core System for Floors B2 through 26
Steel Structural Transfer Truss & Reinforced Concrete Core System for Floor 27
Reinforced Concrete for Floors 28 through 49
Structural Steel Roof

Envelope Materials

Window Glass with Low-e Coating
Curtain Wall Frame
Curtain Wall Connections
Waterproofing Materials
Insulation Materials

Residential Hallway & Room Surface Finishings
Residential
Amenity Floor Furniture
Amenity Floor Surface Finishings
Green Roof Materials

Green Roof Plantings
Green Roof Walkway
Drainage
Waterproofing Layer
Walls & Railings

Bathroom Surface Finishings
Bathroom Furnishings
Elevator Equipment

Elevator Cabs
Elevator Motors
Elevator Doors for each Floor
Elevator Hoist Structure

Lobby Materials

Entrance Doors
Floor Finishings
Lobby Furniture
Italian Marble for the Lobby

Lighting Equipment

Room Lighting
Facade Lighting

Fire Emergency Equipment

Emergency Exit Signage
Fire Alarms
Fire Extinguishers, Hose & Water Riser
Emergency Staircase Doors

Electrical Equipment

21 1000 & 3000 KVA Transformers
45 & 30 KVA Transformers
Emergency Substations
Emergency Transformers
Emergency Generators
Micro Turbine
Substations
Wire
Switch Gears
3 Generators

HVAC Equipment

VAV system
Water Cooling Tower
Chiller
Ductwork
Unit Heaters
Air handling units
Energy Recovery Unit
Pumps
Heat Exchanges
Fans
Boiler
Grilles, Registers, Diffusers
Fan Coil Units
Filters
Electric Radiation

Extra Credit

The course was a good introduction to working as a group to accomplish multifaceted projects too large for anyone group member. Especially the end of term assignment showed the benefits of group management and delegation of the assignment work into smaller parts. Although the project was separated into parts it was important that group members collaborate because the information that is more pertinent to one group member’s portion was also useful for the full completion of another member’s portion. This overlap is evident in the assignment completed due to the cross over and referencing of information into different system descriptions.

During this project it was important to divide the work load. During the beginning of the assignment it was decided for each member to choose a major system, electrical, architectural, HVAC, or structural, that they would be the lead on completing and a secondary major system that they will help the lead complete and be in charge of checking their work.

Additionally it was necessary to manage time effectively and meet up often to complete the project over a larger period of time instead of in a last minute rush. The group made a schedule to meet up outside of class during a few hours over the weekend and maintained a group message to communicate to all members simultaneously.

Both the delegation of work strategy and the coordination of the group schedule will be very important when working on a senior design project. Due to the longer length and reduced direction on the deliverables there will be greater importance to the team project management for the longer 9 month period of time.

Because the senior design project will be less directed, without a set rubric defining the deliverables, the team will also need to brainstorm what should be done to complete the project collectively and in what order. The assignments did not teach how to deal with this problem. A possible approach is to follow the process used in engineering and design firms, to iteratively complete the project. Each section would be completed in steps as to not get ahead of another section and have to be redone when a problem arises and to leave the portions of the project that require more inputs and experience to later in the process as to not waste time. It will also be paramount to communicate and collaborate when problems arise. A single problem, if not noticed by the entire group early and not solved until late in the project, will cause significant rework, stress and delay.

The probable design sequence for the FMC tower started with the concept design, finding the funding and performing the economic analysis to determine the returns. Next the primary engineering phase will need to work out the critical systems of the building and make sure that the concept design will be buildable with these essential systems. Next the additional detailing of the building model, construction schedule and economics are elaborated starting with the parts of the building that will be constructed first. Changes may be made during the later phases of the project to reduce costs and meet additional environmental requirements like LEED certification.