Leeds Central Square Office Development

Project title: Central Square

Location: Leeds

Client: Wates Construction

Service: Smoke Control

Project Background

Central Square is a brand new office development in the business district of Leeds, described by principal contractor Wates Construction as “Leeds’ first speculative office scheme in eight years”.

The development – just a few minutes’ walk from the train station – has been built at a time of growing demand for more commercial space in the city.

The Project

The Client

Group SCS was employed directly by principal contractor Wates Construction in spring 2015 to design and install a smoke control system for the building and a ventilation system for the two-level car park. We also integrated our system with the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) to allow day-to-day ventilation of the stairwells.

The Solution

Two mechanical smoke vent systems to protect the two firefighting cores, as well as bespoke smoke ventilation to the atrium using a natural system. For the car park we designed and installed a ‘UniJet’ ventilation system that delivers combined pollution and smoke clearance.

Our Involvement

The smoke control for the building comprised two mechanical smoke ventilation systems to protect the two firefighting cores. We also supplied smoke ventilation to the atrium using a natural system – this was a bespoke design to meet the customer’s requirements. The atrium had five large windows which all opened at the same time, and for this the system needed to be bespoke.

We designed and installed a car park ventilation system to cover both levels of the car park. This ‘UniJet’ ventilation system delivers combined pollution and smoke clearance using jet fans to provide an energy efficient and safe solution while requiring the least possible plant space. It comprises high-temperature extract fans to exhaust smoke and pollution to the atmosphere with strategically positioned jet or impulse fans used to move stale air or smoke to the extract fan positions. Fully automatic controls monitor carbon monoxide levels and smoke or temperature conditions within the car park to operate the fans at the appropriate level to maintain safe and comfortable conditions within the car park.

For this project we used SCS control systems, using main panels and zone panels designed and built at our own manufacturing facility in Dorset.

We finished our work on site in Autumn 2016.

Two Mechanical Smoke Ventilation Systems

Bespoke natural ventilation system for atrium

‘UniJet’ car park ventilation system

Group SCS's control systems

Chris Connolly, Contracts Manager, Group SCS:

“Wates Construction were great to work with. We worked well with our contacts on site and formed good relationships with local sub-contractors who Wates knew quite well. The job was delivered on time, within budget and to the client’s satisfaction.”