Global design harmony

NFPA Journal, May/Jun 2002 by Reiss, Martin H, Antell, James H

The Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China, are two examples of international buildings using NFPA codes and standards.

WHETHER IT INVOLVES ADVANCES or innovations in life safety system technology or design techniques, the world often looks to North American organizations for solutions to the fire protection challenges of high-rise buildings, The American design and building community, including codes and standards organizations, continues to raise the bar of fire safety, expanding an impressive bank of knowledge on how best to protect multi-story, multi-use structures.

With so many high-rise buildings already dotting the country, the United States may not see an increase in new highrise construction any time soon. In other parts of the world, however, particularly Asia, leading cities and ambitious developers are intent on making bold statements through monumental building projects. The desire to test the limits will continue to intensify in the coming years, as several proposed projects, such as the Lotte Building in Pussan, South Korea, and the Mori building in Shanghai, China, get underway.

Two of the world's most prestigious existing multi-story, multi-use complexes are the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China, both built during the past decade by architects, engineers, and contractors with a single, unwavering design objective in mind: to create monumental symbols of their clients' sophistication, culture, and focus on the future. Integral to that objective was the highest degree of life safety.

Achieving a comprehensive safety system involved two major challenges for the fire engineering consultants from Rolf Jensen and Associates who designed the buildings' fire protection systems: selecting the codes and standards to follow in the design and installation of both passive and active fire protection systems, and determining the blend of global design practices necessary to raise the life safety bar.

Selecting the codes and standards to follow is not necessarily an easy task. Although today's global economy is exerting tremendous pressure on public bodies to standardize regulations and technical standards, fire safety codes, fire protection system design standards, and product testing standards still vary widely from country to country. Fortunately, NFPA's National Fire Codes, which cover building materials, as well as fire protection systems and fire protection design features, are accepted on many projects in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. And as more international projects involve design teams with a variety of backgrounds-an architect from Chicago working with an engineer in London and a construction manager from Riyadh-designers are beginning to harmonize their design practices in much the same way codes- and standards-making bodies are harmonizing their documents. Both trends were evident in the Kingdom Centre and the Jin Mao Tower projects.

The Kingdom Centre

Arguably the most significant construction project in Saudi Arabia in the past two decades, the recently completed Kingdom Centre integrates many uses, including extensive retail space, a Four Seasons Hotel, a wedding and conference facility unparalleled in the Middle East, and the corporate offices of the Kingdom Holding Company. Designed by Ellerbe Becket, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the project occupies 1,033,365 square feet (96,000 square meters) in the heart of the Riyadh's retail district.

The Kingdom Centre has three components: the tower, the podium, and below-grade parking and service facilities. The 984-foot (300-meter) tower, containing offices, a five-star hotel, and 44 luxury apartments, is a dramatic icon visible from throughout Riyadh.

In addition to banking, business, and physiotherapy centers, the three-level podium houses a covered mall that contains the finest retail center in the Middle East, featuring a "women only" district for shopping and dining in adherence to Muslim practices. The podium's 129,171square-foot (12,000-square-meter) wedding and conference hall can be divided into six smaller halls. Completing the podium are a deluxe sports club covering 22,389 square feet (2,080 square meters) and behind-the-scenes areas serving the hotel and banquet facilities.

Parking is available in three below-grade levels that also house service areas for storage, deliveries, and administration.

Saudi Arabia isn't new to NFPA codes and standards, which have been used in military and industrial construction in the country. Using NFPA 101(R), Life Safety Code(R), among other codes and standards, the Kingdom Centre fire protection system consultants designed a master fire protection plan to detect a fire; alert building occupants and staff, and the fire department, suppress or control a fire before firefighters arrive; and facilitate evacuation and fire service response.

The Kingdom Centre is protected by automatic sprinkler systems, which were designed, calculated, and installed in accordance with NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler Systems. Wet-pipe systems predominate, supplemented by pre-action systems in areas where water damage is a concern. Quick-response and residential sprinklers were installed in each hotel guest room and residential living area.