ELECTIVES II - ASSIGNMENT 3

MECHANICAL PLANT ROOMS

IN
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

RITIK JAIN - 30
HUSSAIN RANGWALA - 29
DIV - A
What Is A High-rise Building?

A building is an enclosed structure that has walls, floors, a roof, and usually windows. A tall
building is a multi-story structure in which most occupants depend on elevators to reach their
destinations. The most prominent to all buildings are called as high-rise buildings in most
countries and tower blocks in Britain and some European countries. However, a high-rise building
can be defined as follows:

A high-rise building is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in
terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. It is used as a residential, office building, or other
functions including hotel, retail or with multiple purposes combined. Residential high-rise
buildings are also known as tower blocks and may be referred to as "MDUs", standing for "multi-
dwelling unit”. A very tall high-rise building is referred to as a skyscraper.
• Services Required In A High-rise Building
Services play very important role in any building it may be high rise or low rise.
The services are:
Light ventilation
HVAC systems
Staircases
Lifts
Water supply system
Drainage system
Firefighting system.

I. Building services play a central role in contributing to the design of a

building, not only in terms of overall strategies and standards to b e
achieved, but also in façade, the weights, sizes and location of major plant
and equipment, position of vertical service risers, routes to distribution of
horizontal services, drainage, energy sources, sustainability, and so on.
II. This means that building services design must be integrated into the
overall building design from a very early stage.
III. Building is in directly relevance to services. Without services the building is
nothing.
• Location Of Mechanical Floors In High-rise
Buildings

I. As a rule of thumb, skyscrapers require

a mechanical floor for every 10
tenant floors (10%) although this percentage can
vary widely (see examples below). Mechanical
floors are generally counted in the building's
floor numbering (this is required by
some building codes) but are accessed only by
service elevators.

II. Structural concerns:

Some skyscrapers have narrow building cores that require stabilization to prevent collapse. Typically this is
accomplished by joining the core to the external super columns at regular intervals using outrigger trusses.
The triangular shape of the struts precludes the laying of tenant floors, so these sections house mechanical
floors instead, typically in groups of two. Additional stabilizer elements such as tuned mass dampers also
require mechanical floors to contain or service them.
III. Mechanical concerns:
a) Besides structural support and elevator management,
the primary purpose of mechanical floors is heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning, and other services.
They contain electrical generators, chiller plants, water
pumps, and so on.

b) Special care is taken towards fire safety on mechanical

floors that contain generators, compressors and
elevator machine rooms, since oil is used as either
a fuel or lubricant in those elements.
c) Modern computerized HVAC control systems minimize
the problem of equipment distribution among floors, by
enabling central remote control.

IV. Aesthetic concerns:

Most mechanical floors require external vents or louvers for ventilation and heat rejection along most
or all of their perimeter, precluding the use of glass windows. The resulting visible "dark bands" can disrupt
the overall facade design especially if it is fully glass-clad. Different architectural styles approach this
challenge in different ways.
Mechanical Plant Rooms

•A plant room, (sometimes referred to as a mechanical room or boiler room), is a dedicated space containing
the equipment required to provide or supply building services such as; ventilation, electrical distribution,
water and so on.

•The size of a plant room is generally proportional to the size and type of building.

•Large buildings may have several plant rooms, or spaces that occupy one or more storeys and some plant
rooms may have specific functions, such as; battery rooms, transformer rooms boiler rooms and so on.

•Depending on the size of the building and the nature and complexity of the building services required, plant
rooms may contain (amongst other things):
1.Air handling units. 10. Back-up electrical generators and compressors.
2.Boilers and thermostats. 11. Switch gear.
3.Chillers and refrigeration units. 12. Batteries.
4.Heat exchangers. 13. ITC systems.
5.Water heaters and tanks. 14. Machinery for lifts.
6.Water pumps and pipework. 15. Humidifiers.
7. Gas pipework. 16. Ducts and filters.
8. Sprinkler distribution piping and pumps. 17. Other heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment.
9. Electrical equipment and control panels
When designing a plant room, the following
points should be considered:

•The ease of access for the maintenance and/or

replacement of equipment when locating a plant
room.
•The ability to expand if required in the future.
•The ability to expand the equipment in the room if
required.
•Ventilation requirements.
•Where the plant is located externally and may be in
view, screening devices may be required.
•Floors should be low maintenance finish and comply
with slip resistance standards.
•Access should be restricted to authorized
maintenance personnel.
•Sound transmission should be minimized with
acoustic attenuation if in close proximity to user
rooms/spaces.
 Case Study

The Leadenhall Building, UK

Mixed Use Architecture, Institutional
Buildings, Skyscrapers, United Kingdom

•United Kingdom

•Architects: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

•Area: 84424 M²

•Year: 2014

•Photographs: Richard Bryant – Courtesy Of British

Land/Oxford Properties, Lee Mawdsley, Paul Raftery

•Manufacturers: Kone, Roto

•Project location
Address: 122 Leadenhall Street, London EC3V 4QT, UK
Introduction
• The vision of this office tower is to preserve the view
corridor to St. Paul’s along Leadenhall St. As a result, the
tower slopes away from this view corridor, toward the
north.

• The north elevation forms the backbone of the tower by

providing all services, elevator access, and structural
stability. Complete sections of this mega frame were
manufactured in factories, including the steel, HVAC
equipment and precast concrete floor slabs. All steel was
custom-fabricated, and fire-coated with intumescent paint
at the factory.

• The coloured toilets (blue for men, red for women) inserted
into areas of the north core not occupied by lifts
constituted “an architectural language of supergraphics” for
that façade, given further expression by the orange and
green frames of the glass lift cars and the yellow of their
shafts.
• The building comprises a number of distinct
architectural elements that provide clarity to the
composition both as a whole and as a legible
expression of its constituent parts. These
elements include the primary stability structure,
the ladder frame, the office floor plates, the
northern support core, the external envelope and
the public realm.

• The structure aims to reinforce the geometry

defined by the development envelope, which in
turn creates the distinctive tapering form, and
takes the form of a perimeter braced ‘tube’ that
defines the extent of the floor plates. The ladder
frame contributes to the vertical emphasis of the
building, and encloses the fire-fighting cores that
serve the office floors. The frame also visually
anchors the building to the ground.
• The office floors take the form of simple
rectangular floor plates which progressively
diminish in depth by 750 millimetres towards the
apex. Office floors are connected to the structural
‘tube’ at every floor level without the need for
secondary vertical columns at the perimeter.

• The northern support core is conceived as a

detached tower containing all passenger and
goods lifts, service risers, on-floor plant and WCs.
Three groups of passenger lifts serve the low, mid
and high rise sections of the building, and are
connected by two transfer lobbies at levels ten
and 24.

• The position of the northern support core relative

to the office areas means that the structure is not
required to be over-clad with fire protection,
allowing the whole to be designed and expressed
as visible steelwork. This articulated steel frame
provides clarity to the whole assemblage.
• The highly transparent glazed enclosure makes
manifest the structure and movement systems
within; its physical presence is a striking and
dynamic addition to the City and a unique
spectacle for the enjoyment for passers-by.

• The building is designed to express all the

constituent elements behind a single glazed
envelope. Facades to the office areas require the
highest comfort criteria in relation to heat loss,
daylight, glare control and solar gain. Here, the
facade is supplemented with an internal layer of
double-glazing, forming a cavity which
incorporates the structural frame. The external
glazing incorporates vents at node levels to allow
outside air to enter and discharge from the cavity.
Controlled blinds in the cavity automatically adjust
to limit unwanted solar gain and glare.
• The lower levels of the building are recessed on a
raking diagonal to create a large public space that
opens up to the south. The spectacular scale of
the semi-enclosed, cathedral-like space is without
precedent in London and will create a major new
meeting place and a unique destination in itself.
Overlooking the space are generous terrace areas
within a bar and restaurant that provide
animation and views into the public space and
beyond. This enclosure is open at ground level to
give access from all directions. The public space is
fully accessible by means of a large, gently raked
surface connecting St Helen’s Square with
Leadenhall Street.
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