FMC Tower
FMC Tower is a 49-story skyscraper in University City that became Philadelphia's tallest building west of the Schuylkill River when completed in 2016. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (formerly César Pelli & Associates), the building continues the design language established by the adjacent Cira Centre while achieving greater height and more refined proportions. The tower houses FMC Corporation's headquarters along with other commercial tenants, while its companion building provides residential units that bring 24-hour activity to the developing University City district.[1]
Design
[edit | edit source]Pelli Clarke Pelli's design for FMC Tower refines elements introduced in Cira Centre, creating a taller and more slender tower that terminates in a distinctive angular crown. The glass curtain wall uses gradations of color that transition from darker tones at the base to lighter shades at the top, creating an effect of the building dissolving into the sky. The tower's proportions—its height relative to its footprint—give it elegance that shorter, broader buildings cannot achieve. The design demonstrates the firm's continuing exploration of how glass towers can achieve presence through subtle variations in form and surface rather than through dramatic gestures.[2]
The building's crown creates a profile that distinguishes FMC Tower on the skyline, providing visual interest at the scale of the city rather than just at street level. The angular form creates varied profiles from different viewpoints, ensuring that the tower reads differently depending on the viewer's position. This attention to the building's presence at urban scale reflects the architectural significance of tall buildings as elements of the skyline that residents and visitors encounter from throughout the city and region.[1]
FMC Corporation
[edit | edit source]FMC Corporation, a global chemical company with historical roots in Philadelphia, occupies a significant portion of the tower as corporate headquarters. The company's commitment to the building anchored the development's financing and established the district as viable location for major corporate tenants. FMC's presence demonstrates that corporations headquartered in Philadelphia will invest in high-quality office space when projects meet their requirements, countering assumptions that major companies require suburban campus settings. The headquarters reinforces University City's position as competitive alternative to Center City and suburban locations.[2]
The tower's commercial floors accommodate the open floor plans and technological infrastructure that contemporary office tenants require. Floor plates of approximately 30,000 square feet provide flexibility for various configurations, while building systems meet the sustainability standards that corporate tenants increasingly demand. The building achieved LEED Gold certification, reflecting attention to energy efficiency, water conservation, and indoor environmental quality that modern commercial construction emphasizes.[1]
Cira Centre South
[edit | edit source]FMC Tower rises from Cira Centre South, a development that includes the office tower along with a residential tower that provides over 250 units of housing. This mixed-use approach brings residential population to a district previously dominated by institutional and commercial uses, creating round-the-clock activity that supports retail and enhances safety. The residential component reflects broader trends in urban development that recognize housing as essential to creating vibrant urban districts. The project's success has encouraged additional residential development throughout University City.[2]
The residential tower shares the development's podium and amenities while maintaining distinct identity from the office component. Residents benefit from proximity to 30th Street Station, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Center City—accessibility that suburban housing cannot match. The project demonstrates that University City can attract residents seeking urban living, competing with Center City and other neighborhoods for the population that supports urban vitality.[1]
District Transformation
[edit | edit source]FMC Tower represents the continuing transformation of University City's western edge from industrial and railroad uses to dense mixed-use development. The tower's height and prominence announce the district's ambitions, creating skyline presence that establishes University City as significant concentration of urban activity comparable to Center City. Additional projects completed and underway continue this transformation, building on the investment that Cira Centre initiated and FMC Tower extended.[2]
The district's development has benefited from coordination between Brandywine Realty Trust, the primary developer, and public agencies responsible for streets, transit, and infrastructure. The transformation of private railyards into urban development required public investment in accessibility and placemaking that enables private construction to succeed. This public-private partnership demonstrates how complex urban development requires coordinated action across multiple actors and extended timeframes. FMC Tower stands as visible result of this coordination, though the district's ongoing development will require continued collaboration.[1]