No.5 Commercial Office Building – Isle of Man

NO.5 office building

Commercial Office

Location:

Douglas, Isle of Man

Intelligent Building Solutions Used:

Key products:

System Integrator: TATE CONTROLS

Architect & Interior Design: JAMES BROOKMAN DESIGN

Professional Photography: Liam Gilman Photography

Project summary:

For this 22,000 sq. ft commercial office refurbishment project on the Isle of Man, the client wanted to create a hub-like environment with a premium central London feel. The aim was to create a space that was worthy of being a ‘destination’ for employment that would attract not only local talent, but also entice people from mainland UK.

Coming out of the Coronavirus pandemic, where people have become used to working from home, it was important to create an office environment where people wanted to spend their time.

Having grown from a team of 5 to 250 in 10 years, looking after their staff was a priority. Equally important was creating an environment that was operationally efficient, flexible, and futureproof to keep up with the business’s trajectory.

Having had previous experience of KNX in a residential setting, the building owners knew that KNX could give them the level of building control they wanted and support the demands that would be placed on an office building of this calibre.

With varying degrees of occupancy over 4 floors creating the optimum working environment was a priority. This meant having the ability to manage air quality and comfort automatically and reduce energy inefficiencies that are common in large open plan office spaces when occupants are manually in control of heating and cooling.

The Solution

Building Control – As the client was familiar with the capability of the Gira Homeserver, this was going to be instrumental in providing the intricate level of control that 11 office spaces over 7 floors was going to require. Strategically placed iPads on each floor that connect to the Homeserver give occupants a simple user interface to interact with specific control functions, whilst the Homeserver remains the ‘brain’ that has overall control to always ensure smooth and efficient operation.

HVAC – Commercial HVAC control has the biggest impact on energy costs, and comfort levels for the occupants. To ensure maximum comfort for the occupants whilst also using energy efficiently KNX was used to control 20 ventilation control dampers and 48 fan coil units.

Energy Monitoring and Visu – Energy usage and monitoring is handled and integrated into the KNX system by Intesis gateways and Rayleigh energy meters, and this data is then visualised by the Gira Homeserver. Having this level of visibility provides useful feedback on energy consumption but can also be helpful for troubleshooting energy spikes or abnormal activity that can then be investigated for early detection of any issues to keep the office running optimally at all times.

Lighting – DMX lighting (LED) is used throughout. The core of the building houses an atrium style staircase with a showstopping lighting installation spanning 7 floors. DMX was chosen as it offers more flexibility by allowing more luminaires to be connected and controlled using a single connection. It is also energy efficient running on low voltage, which is especially important in a project where lighting is such a prominent a feature.

The lighting control is triggered by Basalte PIRs on each floor, further contributing to the energy efficiency of the building. The atrium lighting feature is also controlled with logic and is triggered to illuminate when presence is detected on any of the office floors.

The use of presence detection is not only functional, but it also contributes to enhancing safety and security outside of typical office hours with the ability to monitor which PIRs are triggered and when.

Where localised control of lighting scenes is needed in meeting rooms or collaboration spaces, inscribed matt black Gira Push Button Sensor 4 keypads fit perfectly with the office aesthetic.

These keypads are a versatile user-friendly switch that allows occupants to easily adjust the lighting in their immediate environment with a choice of 4 scenes, highlighted by engraved labels and status LEDs to indicate the chosen scene. The integrated temperature and humidity sensor inside the keypad provides data feedback to the KNX system, helping to support the efficient running of the HVAC system.

Key Drivers for using Building Intelligence in this project:

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