Imperial Tower | LEED Silver
Location:
Durham, NC
Size and Construction Cost:
257,000 SF - $43 Million
Services:
Electrical and Fire Alarm Engineering Designs
Description:
The Imperial Tower – Durham, NC (LEED Silver Certified) was conceived as a conventional office building in precast and glass. Asecondary skin consisting of glass and metal panel materializes from the conventional office form in response to programmatic and inherent site characteristics. As these two forms merge, a “lantern” of glass is created as adistinct visual icon positioned fo rultimate visibility along Interstate 40. Tenant signage incorporated into this feature reiterates the notion of a lantern. A reflecting pool rests along a second pedestrian plaza at ground level, creating a transition between the building and landscape. A roof garden at the top level creates an outdoor room for private meetings while establishing dramatic views of the surrounding area. In addition to developing the tower, designers were challenged to create a unified lay out between two other distinct structures, a Westin hotel and a parking deck, that would serve both the hotel and the tower. By taking advantage of the natural qualities of the site and engaging the parking deck into an existing ravine, visibility of the parking deck was reduced, allowing the buildings to become the visual focus of the site. The top level of the parking deck became a plaza, creating an attractive, visible link between the Imperial Tower and the Westin hotel. The plaza between the two buildings’ entries provides an inviting public space as well as a pedestrian link.
This 10 story, 252,000 SF building with a 1,000 space precast parking structure required a phased permiting process in order to meet the tight deadline imposed by the enduser. The project was broken up into five (5) permit packages: site, foundation, steel, shell and interiors; this allowed construction to commence five (5) months earlier than the standard permit package process. This phased process allowed for earlier procurment of materails prior to inflation impacts, which saved the Owner significant money and procurment of long lead items such as high efficient glass, insulated metal panels and steel.
The building was designed with a 2,000A bus duct and a 3,000A bus duct to accommodate the distribution of power from the ground floor up through all 10 floors of
the building. We also designed a 2000A distribution board on the ground floor to power the chillers, standby and emergency ATS’s on the ground floor. The building was equipped with a 2.5MW generator to accommodate the tenants need for a standby power source on the building. The generator was designed with an output distribution board to serve the 2000A bus duct as an optional standby source for the entire building and with breakers to serve the required emergency/stand by systems in the building. The fire alarm system was a full voice evacuation system which incorporated the smoke control system and equipment needed for elevator recall in the fire command center. The building also required a lighting control system to be installed due to LEED and NC Energy Conservation Code requirements. The lighting control system consisted of networked relay panels on each floor which were controlled by a central processor which could be incorporated with the building management system.
Durham, NC
Size and Construction Cost:
257,000 SF - $43 Million
Services:
Electrical and Fire Alarm Engineering Designs
Description:
The Imperial Tower – Durham, NC (LEED Silver Certified) was conceived as a conventional office building in precast and glass. Asecondary skin consisting of glass and metal panel materializes from the conventional office form in response to programmatic and inherent site characteristics. As these two forms merge, a “lantern” of glass is created as adistinct visual icon positioned fo rultimate visibility along Interstate 40. Tenant signage incorporated into this feature reiterates the notion of a lantern. A reflecting pool rests along a second pedestrian plaza at ground level, creating a transition between the building and landscape. A roof garden at the top level creates an outdoor room for private meetings while establishing dramatic views of the surrounding area. In addition to developing the tower, designers were challenged to create a unified lay out between two other distinct structures, a Westin hotel and a parking deck, that would serve both the hotel and the tower. By taking advantage of the natural qualities of the site and engaging the parking deck into an existing ravine, visibility of the parking deck was reduced, allowing the buildings to become the visual focus of the site. The top level of the parking deck became a plaza, creating an attractive, visible link between the Imperial Tower and the Westin hotel. The plaza between the two buildings’ entries provides an inviting public space as well as a pedestrian link.
This 10 story, 252,000 SF building with a 1,000 space precast parking structure required a phased permiting process in order to meet the tight deadline imposed by the enduser. The project was broken up into five (5) permit packages: site, foundation, steel, shell and interiors; this allowed construction to commence five (5) months earlier than the standard permit package process. This phased process allowed for earlier procurment of materails prior to inflation impacts, which saved the Owner significant money and procurment of long lead items such as high efficient glass, insulated metal panels and steel.
The building was designed with a 2,000A bus duct and a 3,000A bus duct to accommodate the distribution of power from the ground floor up through all 10 floors of
the building. We also designed a 2000A distribution board on the ground floor to power the chillers, standby and emergency ATS’s on the ground floor. The building was equipped with a 2.5MW generator to accommodate the tenants need for a standby power source on the building. The generator was designed with an output distribution board to serve the 2000A bus duct as an optional standby source for the entire building and with breakers to serve the required emergency/stand by systems in the building. The fire alarm system was a full voice evacuation system which incorporated the smoke control system and equipment needed for elevator recall in the fire command center. The building also required a lighting control system to be installed due to LEED and NC Energy Conservation Code requirements. The lighting control system consisted of networked relay panels on each floor which were controlled by a central processor which could be incorporated with the building management system.
