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Higher costs but better standards
Landscaped offices
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by Gunnar S.E. Munthe
Using the example of the Volvo headquarters in Sweden, and citing cost comparisons of both Swedish and German origin, Gunnar Munthe, managing director of Facit Office Furniture of Sweden, describes how landscaped offices can provide the most productive environment for a team of administrative workers.
AN EXCELLENT example of planning a landscaped office as a new structure is the new Volvo head office complex recently completed at Torslanda on the outskirts of Gothenberg in Swe- den. This is at present the largest land- scape office in Europe and is the first which from the very first stages of design was intended as a landscape office.
The total floor space of this com- plex is approximately 457,000 sq.ft. and is made up of 20 office landscapes each with an area of 11,000 sq.ft. The complex also includes visiting rooms, a physical training room and various ser- vicing departments as well as two can- teens for the personnel. The largest office unit within the structure pro- vides an area of 66,000 sq.ft.
The design of the building is a radical breakaway from the styles that have been predominant within Swe- dish architecture for decades. A world- wide study was made by administra- tion experts to create an office which would provide the flexibility and pos- sibilities for eventual expansion. A staff of 1,300 work in this complex, the design of which was the work of architects Rune Lund and Alf Valen- tin.
The offices, which are comprised of four atrium blocks each with three or four blocks have been affectionate- ly dubbed by the local inhabitants as 'My Square Lady'.
Two basic fundamentals were con- sidered by Volvo to be of vital im- portance in the planning and construc- tion of the head office. These were the functioning requirements of a land- scape office and the time factor. It was
determined that there had to be a minimum of supporting pillars within the areas making up the offices.
Special demands were therefore placed upon the acoustic qualities of the building units, especially so for the supporting members, which were to form the framework of the structure. The intricate ventilation system re- quired careful study of the relation- ship between building units and ven- tilating units. In addition, the support ing framework had not to hinder the placing or connection of electrical components anywhere within
within the landscape'.
The time factor for constructional work was determined by the proposed date for moving-in. The purchasing methods applied by the contractors enabled an early start to be made on building operations in relation to pro- ject planning.
The head office complex, four main buildings, represents a building volume of approximately 136,000 cu.m. The framework of the head of fice is divided by expansion joints into the adjoining blocks. This expansion jointing has not been carried out in the basement as all the blocks have foundations resting on rock, and the location-cast concrete constructions were split up into casting stages at suitable intervals of time. This enabled the majority of shrinkage to take place before joint-casting was carried out.
Framework of the basement is made up of concrete walls or pillared decks. The latter has only been used where the planned function of the room required this. This also applies to the telephone exchange and the educa-
tion training rooms where flexibility was of prime importance. The base- ment floor is insulated from the bare ground only in those rooms where per- sonnel have more or less permanent work stations.
A special type of basement floor was cast in the cooling plant room, where the acoustic and vibration prob- lems were of a special nature. Here the floor is 0.5m thick and is separated from the building framework with a 5cm-thick elastic joint.
The support framework in the basement which is made up of walls had been calculated on a data com- puter. The input-data given concerned only the location of the support walls, their thickness, fire class and material quality, and the output result specified the dimensions, spacing and required lengths of reinforcing needed.
The building framework which is above ground level can be divided into two principally different types. These are the location-cast units which form those parts of the building which are not office 'landscapes' and the precast units used in the open plan areas. The type of framework which was loca- tion-cast was decided upon at an early stage. The choice of framework in the open plan areas was guided by the need to have as few pillars as possible and by the time factor. An economical advantage was gained by the prefabri- cation of the span lengths which were finally decided upon.
This prefabricated design is made up of outer pillars which run from the floor to the roof and three inner pil- lars. Between the outer pillars are, on each floor, freely suspended members on which the facade slabs are hung. These members also support the joints.
Between the inner pillars are freely suspended steel girders, which support the inner ends of the joists which rest so that their upper edge is at the same
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level as that of the girders. These gir- ders contain holes with a diameter of 30cm and a c/c dimension of 1.20m to provide ventilation for the outer sec- tions of the open plan office. The gir- ders are insulated against fire with sprayed limpet asbestos with a thick- ness of 4cm.
The joist units are in the form of TT-type caissons the longest of which have a span of 13.2m and are 40cm high and the smaller have a span of 8.4m and are 22cm high. The dif ference in the dimensions of these cais- sons is because those areas closest to the location-cast sections of the build- ing (where the lower TT-type caissons are located) require a larger dimension ventilation system which in turn re- quires more space.
The TT-type caissons were later reinforced with a 10cm-thick casting which was taken into consideration when dimensioning the precast con- crete joists. Because of this the cais- sons incorporated special brackets and a very coarse upper surface to ensure good adhesion. This outer casting or floor incorporates specially designed electrical connecting boxes spaced at 1.6m intervals.
intervals. These connecting boxes were the deciding factor as re- gards the thickness of the floor cover- ing.
Experience gained from the pre- fabricated assembly work had been fav. ourable. For instance the time schedule for assembly which demanded the as- sembly of all floors included in an office section within one week, was adhered to after the first running-in period of assembly was completed.
Some of the experiences worth mentioning show the importance of: keeping the number of unit types to a minimum all types should, as far as possible, be ready during the purchas- ing stage the competence and ex- perience of work supervisors who lead the assembly work and the advantage of having supervisors who represent the entire 'prefab' work, both manu- facturer and erector (if possible the manufacturers should have their own erecting department). All buildings, in- cluding the canteen which is circular, have a location-cast basement. The kitchen area contained in this circular section is also location-cast. This cir- cular floor construction, which has a diameter of 20m, forms the first floor of the building and rests on four pillars which are placed in the form of a circle with a diameter of approximate- ly 15m.
Far East BUILDER, December 1970