The Bow Project

March 2013

Safer. Smarter. Tyco Company Confidential

Profile of a Unique Project
• The Bow Building is the
tallest building in Western
Canada at 58 stories. It has
replaced the Calgary Tower
as the prominent landmark
on the Calgary Skyline.
• It was recently named the
world’s 4th most spectacular
Corporate Head Office
building by Emporis, a
global provider of building
data.

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Design Features

The Bow has several design features that make it

unique in North America . Some of these features
include:
• Its crescent shape which creates a floor plan that
maximizes views and access to natural light
• The orientation of the building. The atrium extends the
full height of the SW face to harness the sun’s energy
to augment heating requirements to the rest of the
building

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Design Features

The view to the SW

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Design Features

• The Bow Building

utilizes a “Diagrid”
structural system.
The diagonal and
vertical frames not
only provide superior
structural efficiency,
but also create a
striking graphical
presentation on
Calgary’s skyline

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 Design Features
• There are 3 “sky gardens” which function as an indoor park
environment - with trees, vegetation and seating

Sky Gardens

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Design Features
• The building is in fact built like 3 separate buildings placed
one on top of the other – 3 “tranches”

• The floor plates

within each section
do not extend to the
exterior of the
building allowing
views downward into
the garden atriums
within each ‘tranche’.

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 Design Features
• Many of the offices have windows that open to the atrium
and there are in fact 1506 operable glass vents that let in
outside air also

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Building Facts
The site:
• Area covers the majority of 2 city blocks
• Below grade parking structure is 6 levels (x 2) and
holds 1390 vehicles and 420 bicycles and extends
under 6th Ave to the former site of the York Hotel
where the 2nd tower will be constructed.

The building:
• 58 stories high
• 1.9 mil sq ft of rentable space – approx 32,000 sq ft per
floor
• 2 retail floors and 4 mechanical floors

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Construction Facts

• The largest steel project ever built in Canada (45,000

tonnes of steel)
• The concrete foundation was the 3rd largest continuous
concrete pour in the world (took 3 days and 500
people)
• 82,500 sq meters of glass panels (the equivalent of 10
football fields)
• 1.6 million pounds of sheet metal used for the
mechanical systems
• 1,000,000 conduit runs with 232 individual
transformers for electrical requirements

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Challenges

1. Size & Scope of Project:

• Largest building in Western Canada
• 5 year + Construction Project
• Construction Logistics:
• Moving people and equipment into the building
and up and down floors:
• 300+ electricians
• 22 trades
• more than 100 sub-trades
• >2000 trades people on site at any given time

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Challenges

2. Unique building design:

• Curved building with unique building finishes
• Massive floor plate (32,000 sq ft per flr.)
• Sky gardens (2+ story high atriums with plants)
• Inside office windows that open to atrium
• Outside windows that open to the outside
• Raised sub-floor with removable tiles

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Impact on Fire Systems: (Size & Scope)

Fire Alarm
System
Logistics:
• 34 Fire alarm
“nodes”
networked
Central Riser L4 (2010) together on a
fibre backbone
• 20,000 fire
alarm devices

Fire Alarm Node Pre-Action System

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Size & Scope

• 80 kilometers of sprinkler pipe

• 560 sprinkler hose valves and 128 control valves
• Just under 30,000 sprinkler heads

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Size & Scope

Fire Alarm System

Logistics:
• The Annunciator
panels seen here
each include over
2km of wire in a
3’ x 7’ x 1’
enclosure and
over 2900 point
addresses
including both
switches & LEDs

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Size & Scope

Complexity (Ease of Use)

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Impact on Fire Systems (Building Design)

1. Detection and Suppression in Atriums

2. Detection in sub-floors
3. Smoke Control
4. Smoke Management

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Overcoming the Challenges

1. Size & Scope of Project

• Dedicated Project Management (5 year
project)
• Outside resources:
• Senior programmer from Toronto
• “COE” Design expertise – Westminster
• Custom made Graphical Annunciators
• “A” team

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Construction Logistics: Pre-fabrication

Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) for fire alarm

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Overcoming Challenges

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Overcoming Challenges

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Pre-fabricated Fire Alarm

Termination Cabinets with
termination points for each
node. SimplexGrinnell
communication cards
prewired on a back plate to
facilitate a “plug & play”
connection point on site.

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Overcoming the Challenges
Plug & Play I/O Termination Panel

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Sprinkler Fabrication Shop able to cut

pipes to fit in elevators
• ‘Round-the-clock’ deliveries of
sprinkler pipe to avoid traffic issues
and to work around other trades for
crane & skip time

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Overcoming the Challenges

Sprinkler ‘Fab’ Shop

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Flex heads for sprinkler

system due to massive
floor plate. Able to
accommodate minor changes
in floor layouts, ceiling
layouts etc.

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Ease of Use:
 Computer Command Centre

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 Overcoming the Challenges

• Ease of Use:

 Graphical
representation
of fan and
damper status
on work station

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Overcoming the Challenges
• Ease of Use

 Active
Graphic
Annunciator
Panels in
FACP Room

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Overcoming the Challenges
• Ease of Use:
 Smoke Control
Annunciator Panel

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Overcoming the Challenges

2. Building Design:
• Detection in Atriums

 Flame
detectors

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Detection in Atriums:
 Smoke detectors at top of atriums
outside windows

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Detection in Atriums
 OSID beam detectors in Atrium

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Detection in sub-floors:

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Overcoming the Challenges
• Smoke Control

 High Fog
System (the
only one of
it’s kind in N.
America)

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Control pumps &

solenoids for high
pressure mist system
to suppress smoke in
atriums (3000PSI)

High Fog control system

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Overcoming the Challenges

• Smoke Management:
 Exhaust grids

Smoke exhaust areas for

each tranche

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Conclusion

This job was a successful job because of:

• Use of “A-team” representatives by all parties.

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Conclusion

Quality Workmanship:

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Conclusion

• Excellent teamwork & cooperation between the

electrical contractor, the engineer and ourselves
(manufacturer).
• Solutions-oriented approach - flexibility &
willingness to think outside of the box.
• Incredible commitment to the success of the
project by the electrical contractor and
SimplexGrinnell technicians on site.

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Conclusion
Testimonial from Western Electrical Management:
“We commend Simplex Grinnell (SG) in their performance as the fire
alarm system supplier for the Bow project under some challenging
conditions including an
.

The personnel assigned to the project within SG’s office and onsite were
very co-operative and demonstrated a both
during the construction, verification, and testing stages of the project
contributing to this project’s success for the owner, construction
manager, and ourselves as the electrical contractor.

Many thanks and we would be honored to work with Simplex Grinnell on

future endeavors.”

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Questions?

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