Spie

Teams from Building Systems have now started work on a completely new project. Construction work on the last tower block which will complete the perspective from the Gare du Nord railway station has begun. The new Zenith Tower will be completed by November 2008.

Codic(*) chose SPIE to provide the electrical and HVAC systems for this 22-storey tower with three basement levels and a total area of about 30,000 sq. m.

The contract is worth a total of €7.6 million, including €4 million for HVAC, €2 million for electrical installations, and the remaining sum of about one and a half million for suspended ceilings housing air conditioning units.

The electrical work, comprising all the high and low-voltage installations in the building, entails installing the following equipment in particular:

• three 1,000 kVA transformers,
• an emergency generator,
• 60 secondary distribution panels,
• 1,200 fire detectors.

The work on HVAC systems involves the installation of:

• three 930 kW boilers,
• three chilled water production plants and three cooling towers,
• two air treatment units supplying about 50,000 m²/hour.

Under the extremely tight schedule, one storey is to be completed every 10 days.

The air conditioning system will be based on reversible ceiling units (hot and cold). To provide an optimal working environment, a horizontal sound-proofing system is to be built into the ceilings. The suspended ceilings are to be installed by a subcontractor.

A booster type smoke removal installation is planned for the three car park levels. The fans will be controlled by a CO monitoring system. The CO content in the car park is measured by a unit which operates the ventilation system as required.

Conditions inside the building will be regulated by a centralised technical management system. All interior conditions can therefore be controlled from a single location (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lifts, HV and LV cabinet, sanitary installations).

Special efforts have been made to protect the environment as the client wishes to recover as much energy as possible. The following three proposals have been adopted:

• Installation of condensing boilers in which energy is recovered from steam.
• Fan units for the offices are to be equipped with hygroscopic thermal wheels (for an efficiency of at least 70%). This means that as much heat as possible is recovered from extracted air before it is discharged.
• Utilisation of "free chilling" by means of cooling towers (use of cold outside temperatures to chill water which is then routed to the air conditioning ceilings).

(*) Real estate development company specialising in office, trading estate and shopping mall development projects

Contact 

SPIE SA
Pascal Omnès
Directeur de la communication
Tel.: +33 (0)1 34 22 58 21
e-mail : pascal.omnes@spie.com