The Cira Centre is a 29-story, 437-foot (133 m) office high-rise in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station.

Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a platform over rail tracks.

The building, a silver glass curtain wall skyscraper with 731,852 square feet (68,000 m2) of floor space, includes retail and restaurant space, a conference room, a nine-story parking garage and a pedestrian bridge that links the lobby with 30th Street Station.

[1] On May 8, 2002, Brandywine Realty Trust announced its intentions to build a glass office skyscraper next to 30th Street Station.

The KOZ was designed to encourage development in poor and blighted areas by exempting the tenants of the building from almost all state and local taxes.

On December 24, 2003 Brandywine Realty Trust announced the first tenants to lease room in the Cira Centre.

The grand opening featured a musical group called String Theory whose performance in the Cira Centre's lobby included a large harp and 12 100 feet (30 m) long brass wires attached to the building.

[15] On August 31, 2007, the University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Realty Trust announced their plans to build Cira Centre South.

[20][21] The building was designed to be seen from all sides with the northwest and southeast corners removed giving the Cira Centre a different shape when viewed from different directions.

[19] Building amenities include fourteen high speed and two freight elevators, a health club, restaurants and retail space and a conference center.

The location right next to 30th Street Station allows direct access to the Northeast Corridor, SEPTA's regional rail, and Philadelphia International Airport.

[24][25] The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic Inga Saffron called the Cira Centre "a gorgeous object".

She also praised the glass façade, which she felt "helps marry the delicate modern tower with the weighty, neoclassical train station".

Saffron was critical that when "viewed straight on from the south side, the Cira becomes just another staid corporate glass tower".