Apr 26 2013
Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm with a reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs, announced today that it has collaborated with NBBJ, a global architecture firm, to design the new 1.1M SF building for Samsung AHQ(DS), located in California's Silicon Valley. The project will be pursuing LEED® certification.
Samsung's new campus will consist of a 10-story office tower building with research facilities, a clean room, a data center, a cafeteria pavilion and a 9-story parking garage.
Included in the design of the office tower are an eco-friendly collaborative workspace, open garden floors, on-site fitness center and yoga space, and an extensive courtyard. The facade for the open plan office configuration has been designed to maximize the use of daylighting, taking advantage of the courtyard's access to sunlight, while reducing solar gain to create a healthy, productive workplace interior. The structural design enables the ground and the garden floors to remain column free on the East and West sides by integrating cantilever and bridge elements in the office floors between. Additional technical features of the project are anticipated to include low-energy mechanical systems, thermal energy storage, the use of innovative LED lighting technology, and low-flow water fixtures.
Arup is providing structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil, and facade engineering, as well as acoustics, lighting, vertical transportation, sustainability, fire and life safety, parking and risk consulting services for the project. Currently in the construction document (CD) stage, ground is expected to be broken in mid-2013 with an estimated project completion date of mid-2015.
Arup has worked extensively with NBBJ on prior projects that have involved light and airy indoor and outdoor spaces similar to Samsung's new building. The firms have partnered on additional Samsung projects, most notably the Electronics R&D Center and the Training and Learning Center, both in Suwon, South Korea. In addition, Arup and NBBJ worked collaboratively to design the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Headquarters in Seattle, Washington.