MEP Design Features of 10 Iconic Asymmetrical Buildings

Stunning, grand, awe-inspiring and seemingly gravity-defying, there are some buildings that simply take your breath away. Aesthetically, they embody an architect’s creative vision, but how comfortable, environment friendly or energy efficient are they? Only the details of their MEP (M&E) design systems will reveal that. We look at ten special buildings with high performance MEP systems.

1. The Kingdom Centre, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaIt reminds one vaguely of a giant, skyscraper-sized old Nokia mobile phone with a missing screen... but much more impressive. Besides a shopping mall, the Kingdom Centre hosts the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, an apartment complex and a skybridge on its pinnacle.

In one of the hottest climates on the planet (highest recorded temperature of 52ºC), a prime challenge to consider was solar heat gain. With a curving form, north-south orientation and its narrowest edges facing east and west (where solar heat gain is greatest), the impact of the sun was significantly reduced. Special external reflective glass cladding is an added feature that helps reduce inside heat. Thermal modelling software was used for a detailed analysis of building materials, which helped resolve precise cooling requirements.

A central chilled water plant, with a thermal energy storage (T.E.S.) system, provides in excess of 5,000 tons of cooling capacity to the structure. The plant consists of electric centrifugal chillers with radiators that send heat out. The system stores chiller-generated cooling energy at night and releases this energy to cool the building during the daily peak period, reducing both peak load on the power grid and energy consumption.

Four ‘technical’ floors near the base, mid-height, upper quarter and top of the occupied floors house air-handling equipment for effective air distribution for occupants. A fresh air intake louver at the end of the technical floor allows in outside air, and the exhaust air is sent out through an exit louver at the floor’s opposite end. The intake and exit louvers are situated at the narrow, notched ends of the building, minimising their visual impact.

According to occupancy levels, conditioned air is distributed with different systems, namely VAV units on office floors and fan coil for guest rooms and apartments.

2. The Mode-Gakuen Spiral Towers, Nagoya, JapanHelical, graceful and metallic, the Mode-Gakuen Spiral Towers makes for a stunning view. The gleaming towers circle 36 stories up, with educational institutes in three ‘wings’.

The MEP engineering design features include an ecological double-glass air flow window system and natural ventilation system, significantly reducing heating and cooling loads by passing indoor/outdoor air (exhaust air/return air) between two glass panes. As a stroke of innovation, blinds are placed in the cavity between panes, to be shut as per heating/cooling requirements.

3. Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi, UAEAlso known as the ‘Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi’, Capital Gate beautifully showcases an 18-degree incline on a form reminiscent of a gigantic, shapely water slide. It is a mixed-use structure housing hotels, an exhibition centre, commercial establishments and apartments.

Salient MEP design features include a double-glazed façade, providing a thermal cushion in the space between, reducing building energy requirements. Air is pre-cooled between the inner and outer façade, decreasing the energy consumption of the building through the use of recycled air.

The aptly named stainless steel ‘splash’, or wavelike canopy that is part of the outer façade, is utilised for shading, reducing more than 30 percent of solar heat before it reaches inside, thus in turn reducing cooling requirements within the structure. The twisting form of the ‘splash’ winds around the building to the south, protecting Capital Gate from direct sunlight.

The 560 solar panels on the roof provide approximately 90% of the hot water supply to kitchens, rooms and the pool, saving an estimated 870 megawatt hours of electricity per year.

4. Denver Art Museum, USAResembling a ship or yacht more than a building, the Denver Art Museum has no vertical walls except for the central elevator core. Ceilings and risers slope at a variety of angles.

Following a process of 3D model analysis, visualisation tools were used to create the MEP design that would determine how ducts would travel through the irregularly shaped structure. Ductwork for zones connected central mechanical rooms and galleries. Rework was minimised by installing prefabricated ductwork created for the vast range of angled ducts, using 3D models for both the structure and the ductwork.

5. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, AustraliaThe Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous buildings in the world, and its original design began in the 1950s. An iconic addition to the Sydney coastline, its design and construction used enormous, precast concrete shells.

The abundance of water at Sydney Harbour creates cool air that is used as a heat exchange medium at the opera house. This and the largest sea water heat pump system at the time helped keep its curved form free from unsightly visible units. Low energy consumption approaches include chilled beams. Water from the harbour was used as a heat sink for mechanical and hydraulic systems, including air conditioning. A reversible heat pump is used to supply air to 3,000 outlets over 35 kilometres of ducts through 120 fans distributed at 270m3/s.

6. City Hall, London, UKLondon’s City Hall is a landmark structure on the cityscape, a stretched and angled metallic beehive of a building with soul, mysterious on the outside and beautiful on the inside. It’s also a sustainable, virtually non-polluting public building, with 12,000 square metres of accommodation on ten levels. Lifts and ramps allow universal access throughout the building.

The building has been designed with no conventional front or back portion. Resembling an out-of-shape sphere, the building’s design was developed using computer modelling techniques. The surface area exposed to sunlight has been minimised helping to achieve effective energy consumption. Its cladding is a result of sunlight pattern analysis. Patterns were monitored throughout the year and studied to produce a thermal map of the surface of the building, which was used to develop the cladding.

Both active and passive shading techniques were used in the structure. Leaning back towards the south so that floor-plates move in, the building’s form provides shade for offices that are naturally aired. Ground water is pumped up the building through boreholes from the water table, feeding the cooling systems. Because of these ecological measures, chillers are not needed, and for the majority of the year, no additional heating is required. On average, London’s City Hall will utilise just 25% of the energy used by an average air-conditioned office building its size.

7. Seattle Central Library, Seattle, USAOpened in 2004, this library features a distinct façade and a spacious main atrium. The Seattle Central Library management recognised that, as an institution, it can no longer be exclusively dedicated to books. It strives to be a repository of all forms of media, new and old, presented with equal access and in a legible format.

A diagonal grid system of insulated glass rests on a steel structure for its exterior facade. Almost half the panes are triple-layered glass with a metal mesh sandwiched between two outer glass layers, reducing both heat and glare.

Computer modelling and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis were used to devise energy-efficient building systems. Sustainable features of the library include water-efficient mechanical systems, including a rainwater collection tank for irrigation and ecological ventilation and fire suppression systems. The complex interiors of interconnected spaces posed a challenge of easy accesses and exits for fire consultants. The library’s unique building geometry meant that a code-specified design would be inadequate. Fire scenarios and potential designs were analysed for managing smoke, evaluating them with multiple computerised models for fire prediction, evacuation and visibility.

An estimated US$300,000 in costs were saved by eliminating a requirement for additional fans, numerous additional dampers, automatic vents and louvers and other ventilation controls.

8. Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los AngelesA conglomeration of complex curves with complex surfaces, the Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed in 2003. It is home to the LA Philharmonic and is renowned for its high-quality acoustics and distinct architecture. The hall's sweeping, metallic surfaces and undulating, curving form are a study in the aesthetic appeal of asymmetry. Drawing inspiration from a boat with soaked sails, the concert hall is a shell with interconnected spaces, right-angled coated stone and other organic materials. Corrugated steel covers its surfaces. The interior centerpiece was created to resemble a boat’s hull.

Sunlight plays on the individual panels and arcs of the façade and city lights colour it in the night. The gleaming exterior has led to a unique challenge. The steel panels reflect a significant amount of light and heat directly on the pavement, causing difficulties for motorists and pedestrians. In response, metalwork contractors sandblasted the worst-affected spaces with fine grit.

9. Farnborough Airport Terminal Building in Farnborough, EnglandFuturistic and airy, the Farnborough Airport Terminal building has a spacious main atrium that seems to separate from the external facade. It is open, fluid and welcoming. The terminal building was designed as a two-storey office and operations wing.

The underfloor air conditioning system was chosen for its flexibility, ease of installation and design freedom. An abundance of natural light flows into the administrative offices through sheer curtain walling of side elevations and tilted glazing on the facade.

10. The Turning Torso, Malmo, SwedenThe Turning Torso, the tallest tower in Sweden, embodies the form of a twisting man on a stack of nine cubes curving around a vertical core. Each cube holds five floor slabs that wind at right angles around a reinforced concrete nucleus. The core is placed on a foundation slab and contains stairs, elevators and other services. Residences have alternate heating and cooling systems and sloping bathrooms have under-floor heating systems.

Locally renewable systems support the heating system. Separate pipelines take organic and kitchen wastes to Malmo’s largest biogas plant. Separate generators provide power to all service systems, including lifts, sprinklers and emergency lights. High ceilings and large windows allow bountiful sunlight and heat to enter in, reducing energy usage.

Elegant, creative, landmark structures from around the world owe much of their fame to their unconventional design styles, primarily asymmetric in nature. To truly shine, these designs required the seamless support of effective MEP engineering design, which is fundamental to the smooth functioning of any building. Dedicated, talented and experienced teams of MEP designers worked behind the scenes to make these structures habitable. The buildings they helped construct are tributes to their talent.

Sources:1. Omrania

1. Inhabitat
2. Design-build network
3. Scribd
4. Arup
5. Steensen varming
6. Open House London
7. Arch Journey
8. Arch Daily
9. eBuild
10. Wikiarquitectura
11. Flexible Space
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Kuldeep Bwail, Director at XS CAD, providing 3D Architectural Modelling,3D BIM Modeling to Homebuilder, Architect