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     Announcements Press Releases In The News |
Spring 2003 Report If you would like more information on any of these projects or stories, please contact Jeff Wilde, Partner, at (212) 725-6800 or jwilde@smwinc.com. Peace for Peanuts Listening Up at the Farm Show Sharing the Knowledge Shen Milsom & Wilke Opens London Office Technology Update: Controlling Vibration Peace for Peanuts The Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center, Santa Rosa, CA
Acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke/Paoletti, San Francisco; Dennis Paoletti, project manager Completion: August 2002 Size: 27,400 square feet Challenge: The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center is meant to be calming and to feel comfortable--more like the Peanuts creator’s home than a romp through his works. Yet the museum is visited by plenty of children, as well as serious students and aficionados. Solution: To keep things quiet and homelike, Shen Milsom & Wilke/Paoletti first worked with the architect to create a building shell that limits outdoor traffic noise. It was also essential to quell noise and vibration from the mechanical equipment and air handling system, especially in the presentation theater where lectures, film clips, and even small musicals are presented. In the great room, where large groups gather for receptions, special events, and general viewing, sound-absorbing materials, including semi-rigid glass fiber applied behind wood slats, were placed on the ceiling and upper walls to control noise and reverberation. The project won a design award from the American Institute of Architects’ Redwood Empire chapter in California. Listening Up at the Farm Show Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA
Telecommunications, audiovisual: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Princeton, N.J.; David Stumer and Jim Sanphy, project managers Completion: January 2003 Size: 359,000 square feet (new), 550,000 square feet (renovation), total complex: 16 acres Challenge: The Farm Show Complex is something like an agricultural convention center: it must be reconfigured regularly to suit the needs of different users, including national horse and livestock shows. Add to this the complexity of communicating from one end to the other of a massive exhibition facility-one that includes 16 acres of arenas, show areas, and barns spread through seven buildings packed with thousands of people and animals. Solution: Shen Milsom & Wilke designed a flexible voice reinforcement and paging system for complex-wide announcements from a central distribution point or for local announcements from a presenter or officials at floor level. A sound system was also designed with speakers positioned to minimize distortion and reverberation--a common problem in massive spaces. Both the announcement and speaker systems were tied in to existing equipment. To satisfy the communication needs of different complex users, voice/data and fiber cabling was installed for telephones and to give ready access to the Internet. Sharing the Knowledge Texas Learning and Computational Center, University of Houston Architect: Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Houston Audiovisual: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Houston; Marc Menasco, project manager Completion: May 2002 Challenge: There are great computer minds at the University of Houston. How do they share their knowledge with students, researchers, and the outside industries and organizations (including NASA) that work with the university? Solution: The heart of the renovated TLCC is a small visualization lab packed with computer equipment. In it, 3D images are used to model everything from molecules to geophysical layers. To allow scientists to share these images with various groups--for collaborative study, teaching, or presentations--Shen Milsom & Wilke created a cable system that links the visualization lab with a 120-seat auditorium, a 40-seat computer classroom, and other classrooms within the space. The auditorium features a stereoscopic projector, fed from the visualization lab, and a motorized screen that descends from the ceiling. Wearing 3D glasses, the audience is treated to a realistic display, thanks to the computing power of the visualization lab. These images may be transmitted to the other rooms as well, or 2D images generated in the computer classroom may be sent to the auditorium. The rooms are also set up for distance education. Shen Milsom & Wilke Opens London Office
The new office is involved in several innovative projects, including Reliance Infocomm in Navi Mumbai, India--Ratan J. Batliboi architects in Mumbai; and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority--Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in London. Graham Vincent, the office manager, has more than 20 years experience in audiovisual and broadcast design and project management. Graham Vincent Shen Milsom & Wilke 60 Centurion Way Basingstroke, HANTS Hampshire, UK RG22 4TJ Phone: +44 (0) 1256 364721 Fax: +44 (0) 1256 357448 Mobile: +44 (0) 766 078487 gvincent@smwinc.com Technology Update: Controlling Vibration Technically Complex, Increasingly Important By Chris Papadimos
Nanotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology, healthcare, university research, R&D labs--these are just a few project types that require low-vibration environments. These buildings contain equipment used in processes or procedures that are sensitive to even minor movements--the whoosh of air from the mechanical system, the rattle of a truck rolling along a nearby highway, even the impact of someone walking nearby or in an outside hall. Vibration requirements add complexity to the design phase of a project and affect other design disciplines. They also result in a higher premium by directly adding to the building costs and by indirectly requiring more attention to detail and thorough design coordination. Given the potential for complications, vibration control work should start long before building construction, during concept design and programming. In principle, there is always some level of vibration in any site or building and it needs to be placed in the context of how it may affect the design for a specific type of facility or limit facility layout and design options. For that reason, such projects start with a survey of the site (or multiple sites for projects that include site selection criteria) to establish baseline conditions. Site investigations beyond ground vibration readings should also include inquiries about existing or planned heavy industry operations within a several mile radius. Mines or quarries that blast for mineral extraction are an example of operations that need to be identified in this early stage. Land-use planning around the project site needs to also be thoroughly examined and carefully established. The vacant lot next door that is zoned for industrial uses or perhaps even for agricultural uses might become a problem unless explicit zoning conditions are put in place. Vibration in a building can be due to both internal and external sources. The latter are typically ground transportation, heavy industry, and construction operations. Internal vibration sources include the mechanical systems and occupant activities--people walking, carts rolling across the floor, and doors closing. All of these sources are becoming more critical as the vibration tolerances for sensitive equipment shrink. When expanding an existing facility, advanced planning should include how vibration due to construction will affect vibration-sensitive operations. This is particularly critical for semiconductor manufacturing where the daily production revenue is easily in the millions of dollars and even a small fraction of product loss is unacceptable. On projects where the construction schedule is critical, vibration testing for construction equipment can be undertaken to establish safe setbacks. The results of such testing are used in construction specifications and for project bidding. This will add to the cost of construction, but the potential complications due to construction vibration are proactively addressed. A vibration survey is even more essential to identify pre-existing conditions in an existing facility. Such testing may also protect the design team from future potential liability. For example, in conducting a site survey as part of the design team for a new research facility, we discovered an existing chiller plant adjacent to the site. While the plant was not in operation during the initial survey, it was identified as a pre-existing condition that would warrant further evaluation. Subsequent vibration testing of this chiller plant was necessary to evaluate the affects of the plant on the project and establish remedial treatments. Once the presence of vibration sources is analyzed and mapped, Shen Milsom & Wilke, together with the design team, uses this information to establish site limitations and alternative design options for the specific project. On subsequent updates we will discuss criteria selection and alternative design options for various types of facilities with advanced technologies from the ground up. Low vibration projects underway or recently completed by Shen Milsom & Wilke: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects Vibration and acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, San Francisco; Ward Sellars, principal Completion: 2006 Size: 520,000 California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at the University of California, Los Angeles Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects, New York City Vibration and acoustics, audiovisual, telecommunications: Shen Milsom & Wilke, San Francisco; Ward Sellars, principal Completion: Winter 2004 Size: 280,000 square feet; laboratory and office space California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco (expansion of existing medical facilities) Architect: SmithGroup/SOM, A joint venture, San Francisco Vibration and acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, San Francisco; Ward Sellars, principal Completion: 2012 Shen Milsom & Wilke, an international technology consulting practice founded in 1986, offers comprehensive services in the areas of telecommunications, audiovisual/multimedia, and acoustics. The firm has offices in New York, Princeton, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, London, Dubai, and Hong Kong, and a staff of more than 140 professionals. Shen Milsom & Wilke was named one of the 100 fastest growing A/E/P firms in the nation by Zweig White & Associates for the years 2001 and 2002. To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to unsubscribe@smwinc.com. You need to send from the e-mail account in which you receive the newsletter. No subject or content is needed. If you cannot send from that account, or wish to change your subscription e-mail address, mail us at smw@smwinc.com. |
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