CLIENT – Titan Fire Protection Ltd. / Bosa Development
LOCATION – 320 Granville Street, Vancouver, B.C.
SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering
MARKETS – Office Tower
Fire Suppression Systems Design Services in Vancouver, BC
Background
A beautiful new addition to the Vancouver water front skyline, we’re proud to have provided fire suppression systems design services for the Bosa Waterfront development. Thirty storeys of office space on top of eight storeys of parking, the project footprint was approximately 16,000 square feet. As this is an office building with multiple spaces, we worked with each new tenant to design their unfinished unit. It was necessary for each one of these spaces to go through their own permit process (PITA) and not negatively impact the existing alternate solutions, so we were the only fire suppression engineers allowed on the job.
The notable challenges we encountered on this project:
- An ongoing challenge with sprinkler design in Vancouver is the extremely difficult permitting process. Permits often take more than 6 months to obtain, usually being issued far into the construction process. This is an issue because the installer is not able to begin any work on site until the permit is issued, and that can lead to delays or liquidated damages.
- Due to the close proximity of the neighbouring buildings, the project had a few alternate solutions to the sprinkler system. This required closely spaced sprinklers, and redundancy features such as dual zone controls and a backup fire pump complete with a back-up water supply (water storage tank).
- Since property in downtown Vancouver is so limited, everything needs to be squeezed into a small footprint. That meant the emergency generator engine exhaust and intake are in areas which required additional sprinkler protection. Those heads need to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures of an engine exhaust, while also supplying 30 us gallons per minute.
Our solution:
- We’ve been working closely with the City of Vancouver regarding fire suppression systems design for almost 20 years, and although there is still a long way to go with the permitting process, we’ve gotten it down to the fastest time possible in the current state. We also have a good working relationship with the building review branch and are always notified of new city bulletins or fire suppression requirements put in place or checked for internally. This has saved our clients time in the past, occasionally getting a permit in one review with zero deficiencies. For this project in particular, we had to call a meeting with the City and all of the project team to discuss what needed to be done in order to achieve a fire sprinkler permit, as the project was in danger of falling behind due to minor coordination issues. The permit ended up being released shortly after and the project maintained its critical path.
- We designed a back-up fire pump which was fed with a ~20,000 gallon water tank in the parkade, responsible for feeding all of the sprinkler systems in the entire building in case the city water supply fails. This tank was carefully coordinated with the architect, structural and mechanical engineers in order to ensure all the requirements of the local codes and bylaws were satisfied. Redundant zone controls on each floor were also provided to avoid a scenario where one was shut down by a tenant to avoid compromising the sprinkler system.
- Closely spaced sprinklers were provided within the exhaust and intake shafts with extremely high temperature ratings, and hydraulically designed with separate feeds to avoid over taxing the floor area sprinkler system. This was also coordinated with the HVAC consultant and installers to fit the sprinklers within the duct.
Take advantage of our Fire Suppression Design and Engineering service experience for your next building project in Vancouver, across Canada, or the United States.