A new prestige office development
in Sandton, Johannesburg is using a combined smoke and natural ventilation
system, involving automatic window vents in the building’s elliptical glazed
central tower, which is actuated and controlled by an integrated solution from SE Controls Africa.
Located in the Sandton business
area, which is regarded as one of South Africa’s prime commercial locations, the
R208 million (£10.7 million) Capital Hill development combines seven floors of
office space with residential apartments, as well as covered parking for almost
400 vehicles.
Designed by MWLF Architects, the
building not only provides high quality business facilities and residential
accommodation, but is also highly energy efficient and is constructed to achieve
a ‘Four Green Star’ rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa.
As part of this process, the
building’s 12 storey elliptical central tower features a fully glazed external
facade within an aluminium lattice structure, which incorporates an automatic
window and vent opening system to provide natural ventilation and overnight cooling,
as well as smoke ventilation in the event of a fire.
To achieve the necessary level of
versatility and control required for the automated vent system, SE Controls
supplied 49 SECO N 24 25 twin chain actuators with a 350mm stroke length
together with 7 SHEVTEC® control panels and manual control points (MCP), which
were networked using the company’s OSLink network cards. An external weather
station was also installed to provide an information feed on ambient conditions
into the system.
In normal operation, the windows
open and close automatically, to provide cooling and a supply of fresh air, but
in the event of a fire this is over-ridden and vents are opened to allow smoke
to be vented, enabling escape routes to be kept smoke free.
Russell Cramb, General Manager with
SE Controls Africa, explained: “Capital Hill is an iconic building and has
already attracted a lot of attention for its eye-catching design, green
credentials and the quality of facilities it provides. We have an immense
amount of experience in combined natural and smoke ventilation solutions, which
we used when working with the architect to create a solution that wouldn’t
compromise the smooth architectural lines of the external glazed facade.”
Further information on SE Controls’
products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com
or calling +44 (0) 1543 443060.
