HQ

HQ with IQ

Intelligent desing ... to reduce contrast caused by HQ's generous fenestration.

TENANTS at Aldar Properties’ high-profile business tower will benefit from cutting-edge mechanical and electrical (M&E) services with HQ featuring intelligently design across the building that contribute to its ‘green’ credentials. These include high-speed lifts, efficient air-conditioning, a dedicated sub-station, energy-efficient lighting, hi-tech vacuum waste collection and state-of-the-art IT systems.

The lifts
Ten lifts with a capacity for 26 people each will whisk people up to speeds of 6 m a second in addition to a further two lifts – also with a capacity for 26 people each and speeds of 3.5 m/s. The building has two dedicated lifts for goods and fire-fighters (2,000-kg capacity and 2.5 m/s speed). An intelligent lift management system groups and controls the passengers together by destination, minimising the waiting time for passengers.

Powered up
Power is supplied to the building at 22 kV from a 132/22 kV primary substation within the Al Dana precinct. The service is delivered through encased ducts routed through the basement car-park to the building’s dedicated substation within the basement.
Power is transformed to the operating voltage of 415 V by six dry-type (cast-in-resin) 2 MVA transformers, with built-in resilience and distributed via multiple rising bus bars.
Two substations, each consisting of three 1,500 kVA transformers, are provided in the basement of the building. Each transformer will feed one low-voltage (LV) switchboard, resulting in six LV switchboards for the building. The building also provides generator back-up supply. The diesel storage tanks for the generators have been sized to provide up to 48 hours supply.

Air-conditioning
A district cooling network is provided by Tabreed within the Al Dana precinct from which HQ’s primary heat exchangers supply cooling to its primary chilled water network.
The central BMS (building management system)-controlled variable air volume (VAV) air-conditioning system is supplied from two central air-handling plant rooms containing 17 air handling units (AHU) and is distributed into the building via high induction swirl diffusers. The perimeter and internal zones are served separately and the remaining back-of-house areas are served by more than 80 fan coil units. Provision has been made for a tenants’ supplementary chilled water, outside air network and exhaust system to all occupied floors.
For ventilation, pre-conditioned air is introduced at a rate of 10 litres per second per person. General-purpose extract risers are provided for tenants in close proximity to dedicated areas within each floor plate to allow for fitting out of pantries/tea-coffee preparation and other similar areas.

Water
The cold water services systems within the building will be served from the precinct-wide utilities infrastructure. The incoming main will serve two bulk cold water storage tanks for potable and non-potable/fire use in the development.
Water is drawn from the two bulk stores and pumped through multi-pump cold water booster sets. The booster sets are configured as duty/duty/standby with a single pump in each set dedicated as standby.
Domestic hot water will be generated locally with on-floor packaged unvented hot water heaters. The hot water distribution will be insulated against heat loss and kept to minimum lengths to prevent “dead legs” occurring within the system. For all ablution areas, the water temperature will be controlled by thermostatic mixing valves at point of use to no greater than 42.5 deg C.

Fire systems
The building is fully protected by sprinklers and equipped with two fire-fighting lifts and hose reels in accordance with NFPA 5000. Two fire escape stairs feed the main office tower, each independently pressurised.
An analogue addressable fire detection system has been installed to serve the entire building. Evacuation signals will be annunciated by messages broadcast over the voice alarm system, or sounders in plant rooms.
The fire detection and voice alarm systems will operate in accordance with BS 5839 and the requirements of the fire strategy. The floors are provided with sounders and detectors to suit an open-plan Category A fit-out.
A main fire alarm control panel is provided at the main entrance for fire brigade use, with repeater panels provided within the management office.
The fire alarm system will be linked to the lifts, BMS, security alarm systems, sprinkler system, parking smoke extract, and stair pressurisation plant.
A comprehensive system of public address and voice evacuation, comprising loudspeakers, warning beacons, fireman’s microphone and centralised control and amplification will serve the building.

Lighting
HQ is fitted with high-efficiency T5 lamps with a long life. Lighting is controlled from an intelligent lighting control system to provide flexibility in lighting control and to maximise energy savings. Infrequently-accessed spaces such as store rooms and wash rooms will be controlled via motion detectors. Local switching will be provided to all plant spaces.
The car-park lighting is controlled through a combination of both motion detectors and vehicle detectors, which are programmed for 30-minute delays after last presence detected to ensure the lights are not switched off while the spaces are occupied.
The emergency and exit lighting for the building will be a central battery system to comply with the requirements of BS 5266.
Lighting within the main office areas will perform automatically, complementing the high levels of daylight. To reduce the contrast caused by the generous fenestration, the internal cores are to be washed with light. Given the floor-to-ceiling height of the offices, the ceiling-mounted luminaires will be recessed.
Further lighting is provided at the perimeter to illuminate this zone of the office, and control the exterior appearance of the building. All luminaires in the office are to have appropriate brightness cut-offs for office/computer screen use. All light sources are of the fluorescent type to provide high efficacy and dimming control.
Lighting in the lift lobbies complement architectural features, providing controlled contrast to the office space.

Telecom & security
A resilient and flexible telecommunications service with 10G capacity is provided by a fibre-optic system designed to meet modern-day service requirements. A variety of services is offered to tenants including video and high-speed data links, in-building wireless solution (integrated antenna system) to cater for the increasing demands of wireless technology.
And finally, an IT-based security system will complement the 24-hour physical security presence.