It is safe to say that the skyline of Philadelphia will never be the same. Completed in November 2005, the visionary design and striking location of Philadelphia’s newest skyscraper has already made the Cira Centre a landmark for the City. As the first new office tower completed in area in almost 15 years, the Cira Centre represents the future of the City of Philadelphia and a revival for several surrounding sections of the City.

Pennoni Associates, working for client Brandywine Realty Trust, provided site/civil engineering, survey, environmental, geotechnical, and construction inspection services for the design of the Cira Centre. While building a structure the size of Cira on any site would pose challenges, the site chosen for Cira was especially challenging for a number of reasons. Pennoni’s innovative and forward thinking engineering work enabled the design and construction of Cira to become a reality, and led to the Cira Centre’s selection as the 2006 Outstanding Engineering Achievement award by the Delaware Valley Engineers’ Week Council.

World-renowned architects Cesar Pelli & Associates (now known as Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects) were the Design Architects for the Cira Center, and created a building like no other the City has seen. Cira expands downtown Philadelphia across the Schuylkill River into a new region occupied by 30th Street Station, the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University, linking business to the research, education, and culture offered by these two fine universities. Located at 2929 Arch Street, Cira was constructed in a portion of Amtrak’s North Parking Deck within the former Amtrak Rail yard. It is directly connected to 30th Street Station via a pedestrian bridge across Arch Street through the upper level, and is adjacent to the new Amtrak parking facility. While this site made the building accessible from all modes of transportation, including rail, car, subway, trolley, bus, and taxi, it presented significant civil engineering challenges.

The Amtrak Rail yard site was the proposed site for several large building projects over the last 40 years. In the late 1960s, it was looked at and ruled out as a potential site for Veteran’s Stadium, and in the 1980s it was proposed as a location for the Pennsylvania Convention Center. While both of these large facilities were eventually built on other sites, close examination began of the air rights above the tracks to determine the potential for future development. In 2002, when Brandywine was awarded the development rights for the parcel north of the station, Pennoni began the huge undertaking of designing a site plan to accommodate a major office building on this long-neglected site.

Looking at the site from street level can be deceiving: the site may look routine, but in actuality it is not. Arch Street is located on an elevated deck about 20 feet above the Amtrak Rail Yard. The yard is filled with overhead high-voltage power lines that feed the trains coming and going from 30th Street Station. These lines provide enough electricity for the trains, but were of little use in powering a 29-story skyscraper. In addition, the rail yard did not have adequate utility infrastructure for telecommunications, water, or sewer. On a normal City site, those necessary utilities could be pulled from public services within the street, but Arch Street did not contain the necessary utility infrastructure. Pennoni discovered that sufficient utilities were located on Market Street, about 900 feet away from the site.

Pennoni devised several possible alternatives to get utilities to the site. The goal was to provide the site with the most reliable services possible while maintaining cost effectiveness. Pennoni decided that bringing utilities from several different locations would provide the most dependable services, with a large percentage of the necessary utilities coming through the existing infrastructure running beneath 30th Street Station. Pennoni reused this old infrastructure and designed a concept for primary services that ran domestic water, fire, sewer, electric, and telecommunications through these tunnels, bringing them 900 feet from Market Street to the site.

In order to bring Brandywine’s concept of a top-of-the-line, cutting-edge space to life, Pennoni needed to provide the site with redundant utility services. To do so, limited secondary utilities were drawn from Amtrak’s existing usable facilities.

Successfully bringing utilities to the site was accomplished in spite of several other engineering challenges that the selected property posed. These challenges included very limited construction and loading access due to the positioning of the site between active rails, a newly constructed parking garage, and a highly trafficked city street, as well as configuring the necessary relocated utilities within the limited amount of bordering space surrounding the footprint of the proposed building.

When looking at the Cira Centre’s bold and dramatic architectural design, it is easy to forget about all of the engineering work required to bring such a building to fruition. The work performed on the Cira Centre clearly demonstrates the importance of engineering in shaping the future of today’s society. While all aspects of the selected site were appealing to the client, the location created a utility nightmare for the Civil Engineer. By stepping away from the problem and looking at the project as a complete system with the surrounding area, Pennoni was able to solve the challenge and enable the project to move forward at the preferred site. Without the adaptive reuse application for some of the existing rail yard infrastructure designed by Pennoni Associates, the Cira Center would not have been possible.

Thanks to the talents and diligence of the project team, the Philadelphia skyline has been redefined. The Cira Centre is unlike any building that Philadelphia has ever seen, and it represents the evolution of architecture in the Delaware Valley. It is the first in a series of new projects designed to spur the rejuvenation of West Philadelphia, and is leading the way for new businesses to move into the City. Brandywine has taken a once unproductive site and turned it into an investment that will pay dividends long into the City’s future. The design and construction of Cira also marks a return to the growth of business in the City, as most of the multi-story construction taking place in the City over the last few years has been for residential projects. The potential for office space that is easily accessible from anywhere in the northeastern United States will help to draw people from outside the City, increasing revenues for the Delaware Valley. Cira represents the future of the Delaware Valley, and is a landmark that all of us who live and work here can be proud of.

Pennoni Engineering and Surveying of New York, P.C. (PESNY) is a full-service consulting engineering firm providing quality design services. We are involved in new and retrofit projects for public agencies, major corporations and developers. In 2006, the staff of Meyer, Strong & Jones Engineers, P.C. (MS & J), a firm of professional engineers in continuous practice since 1902, joined Pennoni Engineering. They brought with them their vast experience in educational facilities, hospital and laboratory buildings, financial institutions, transportation facilities, correctional facilities, cultural facilities, hotels and other residential buildings, high-rise and other office buildings, office interiors, retail spaces, central heating and cooling plants, dining facilities and communications systems, in addition to extensive design of the support systems for computer spaces, including UPS and emergency power generation.While the New York office specializes in HVAC, electrical, plumbing/sanitary and fire protection engineering, their affiliation with Pennoni Associates affords them the ability to offer the full resources of the multi-discipline Pennoni organization.

The plumbing engineering group at Pennoni Associates has extensive experience in designing various plumbing systems for educational facilities, healthcare facilities, dialysis centers, office buildings, prisons, military bases, stadiums, commercial and industrial facilities.  Our services also include risk analysis of building systems to determine the life expectancy of piping systems, analysis of expansion capabilities, and peer reviews of design and construction documents as well as reports to determine if design documents meet all local and state codes.

Pennoni’s healthcare experience has contributed to the  modernization of facilities including labor and delivery, endoscopy, NICU/post partum, family health care, radiology, cardiac catherization, emergency room, and rehabilitation therapy rooms.

Plumbing engineering services include domestic water, sanitary, storm, natural gas systems, medical gas systems (medical air, medical vacuum, oxygen, nitrogen, nitrous oxide), process piping systems (compressed air, vacuum, distilled water, deionized water, reverse osmosis).
 

The fire protection group at Pennoni Associates has extensive experience in designing various fire protection systems for educational facilities, healthcare facilities, dialysis centers, office buildings, prisons, military bases, stadiums, data centers, and other commercial and industrial facilities.

Pennoni’s services also include reviewing existing installations of fire protection systems for code compliance, evaluations of system design for future expansion, and peer reviews of fire protection drawings to determine if design documents meet all local and state codes.

Fire protection design services include wet and dry sprinkler systems, pre-action systems, FM-200 systems, and water mist systems.
 

A new housing development. An outdoor shopping center. A multi-story office building or parking garage. The Residential, Retail and Commercial industries are a part of our everyday life, places we live, work and play. While we have come to expect the places we live, the places we shop and the places we work to have modern facilities and amenities, it is easy to take for granted that all of these are dynamically impacted by the engineering world. 

• Can the proposed construction area sustain the utilities needed for the housing complex?
• Will traffic be negatively impacted by the new retail center, and are new roads and access necessary?
• Are the materials used to construct this new office building sustainable and safe for the environment?
• Is the structure of the high-rise condominium conducive to the safety and longevity of the structure?

Pennoni Associates takes a vertical engineering approach for residential, retail and commercial projects. We can start your project at conception, assessing the site for environmental issues, surveying the site to determine the property lines and physical features, and planning the layout of the site. We advocate at the local, state and federal level as necessary to gain the proper approvals and permitting, and we participate in public hearings to gain citizen support through education. We can provide the site engineering necessary to make your Architect’s vision a reality, as well as supporting that reality through structural and MEP engineering. We inspect the construction to ensure it is done properly and safely, as well as testing the materials used to complete the construction. We do all this in the most environmentally sustainable way, and can assist in achieving LEED certification for your project.

The backbone of any Residential, Retail and Commercial project is the engineering. Let Pennoni Associates give your project the quality services necessary to make it a success.
 

Edward J. Sander, PE, serves as Vice President for Construction Services, and is Principal-in-Charge of Geotechnical Engineering.  Ed’s expertise is in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, management and quality control on such projects as hi-rise office buildings, waste processing plants, cement plants, schools, churches, petrochemical facilities, regional shopping centers, marine facilities, bridges and highways, and other private/public projects.  He has been responsible for all phases of geotechnical work including project management, coordination of various phases of projects, supervision of field, laboratory and engineering personnel, analysis, report preparation, consultation and construction monitoring and testing. He possesses extensive experience with design, subsurface stabilization and construction in karst areas. Ed joined Pennoni Associates in 1999, and earned a BS in Civil Engineering and an MS in Geotechnical Engineering from Drexel University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Fred Lindquist, PE, serves as Vice President in Pennoni's MEP Technology.  He joined Pennoni Associates and Pennoni Engineering & Surveying of New York in 2006 when the staff Meyer Strong & Jones (MS & J) became part of Pennoni. Fred’s experience is widely diversified, running the gamut of continuing projects for the same client to new construction and renovation work. His experience includes financial institutions, education facilities, urban and suburban office buildings, hotels, on-site generation, energy conservation, risk analysis, peer review, computer centers, military and civilian government work, laboratory buildings, nursing homes, as well as the integration of new and historic structures. Fred is a graduate of the State University of New York, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in four states, as well as a Certified Value Engineer.

The HVAC engineering group at Pennoni Associates is comprised of engineers and designers, many of whom are LEED accredited, who have extensive experience in providing HVAC/mechanical design services for a diverse client base.  Pennoni provides HVAC/mechanical engineering design for the following systems: air conditioning, steam and hot water heating, refrigeration plants, boiler plants, underground utility site distribution, fuel oil systems, air handling and distribution, ventilation and exhaust, energy recovery, hot water, condenser water and chilled water distribution, filtration and air/water cleaning, “water-side/air-side free-cooling”, geothermal, snow melting, automatic temperature control and building/energy management.

Pennoni’s mechanical engineering services range from providing feasibility studies through commissioning of complex mechanical systems.  Our services include risk analysis of new and existing systems, energy conservation analyses, energy modeling, sustainable design, energy audits, and existing building evaluations.

Services are provided for various commercial and industrial buildings, including office buildings, data centers, financial centers, educational facilities, healthcare facilities, performing arts facilities, hotels and casinos, correctional facilities, municipal buildings and infrastructure, military bases, manufacturing and process plants and co-generation plants.
 

The electrical engineering group at Pennoni Associates is comprised of dynamic engineers and designers who have extensive experience in providing electrical design services for a diverse client base.  Pennoni provides electrical engineering services for medium and low voltage power distribution, interior and exterior lighting, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, emergency generators, motor controls, fire alarm, security systems, grounding, and lightning protection.

Pennoni's electrical engineering services range from feasibility studies through commissioning of complex electrical systems.  Our studies include risk analyses of existing systems, energy audits, cogeneration feasibility, sustainable design evaluation and feasibility.  We specialize in short circuit, coordination, and arc flash studies. Our electrical group also specializes in the design of solar photovoltaic systems.

Services are provided for various commercial and industrial buildings, including office buildings, data centers, financial centers, educational facilities, healthcare facilities, hotels and casinos, municipal buildings and infrastructure, military bases, manufacturing and process plants, and co-generation plants.