Site Visit: Back to school

A major challenge on the project has been overall co-ordination of the MEP works

Described as an ‘integrated, world-class facility’, it will feature an auditorium, black-box theatre, field house, running track, regulation soccer field, other large playing fields, separate elementary and secondary gyms, two swimming pools, elementary play areas, secondary school and elementary school libraries, two cafeterias, music rooms, meeting spaces, a wireless school environment and landscaped garden areas.

In addition, DSI was also responsible for the total security system, which has been designed to the highest international standards. This posed its own challenges to achieve within the larger civils framework, says Shaker.

DSI’s involvement focused on five sectors. Sector A is the plant room and chiller yard, Sector B is the admin building and theatre, while Sectors C to E comprise classrooms, laboratory facilities and playground areas. There are 11 rooftop Daikin-McQuay chillers, and 86 AHUs in total.

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“At the end of the day we have opted for AHUs and a variable air volume (VAV) system as opposed to fan-coil units, as the former is far more flexible, as well as providing better environmental control.” The extensive cabling needed for the chillers was completed in a record two weeks, right down to fixing of the cable trays.

There are twelve primary chilled water pumps and eight secondary pumps. The air-con system is ducted, with preinsulation internally and GI sheeting externally. The total electrical load is 10MW, with two substations and nine transformers in total, says Shaker.

“A big challenge was that we passed the DEWA inspection with flying colours, and we received high praise for our high level of completion in terms of the substations. From the air-con point of view, we flushed ‘wild air’ through the system by the end of July, and delivered chilled water soon thereafter,” says Shaker.

“We proud ourselves on our professionalism, attention to detail and quality and our speed of delivery – all attributes that have stood us to good stead on this flagship project,” concludes Shaker.