Analogue

Issue 13, Mar 2021

ATAL Works Towards Creating CBD2 in Kai Tak
安樂致力打造啟德成第二個核心商業區

Under the theme of sustainable development, the HKSAR Government’s Kai Tak Development (KTD) covers more than 320 hectares and has been designed to develop “a distinguished, vibrant, attractive and people-orientated community by Victoria Harbour”.

ATAL has started work on Twin Towers, a landmark component of the initiative to transform the old airport site into our city’s second central business district – CBD2.

The Twin Towers project is one of the three major KTD contracts awarded to ATAL, which will apply a sustainability philosophy founded on a “virtual triangle” of economic growth, environmental protection and quality of life.

All-in-one commercial hub

Twin Towers will contain a major department store and other retail units, as well as dining and lifestyle facilities, providing the neighbourhood with an all-in-one commercial hub.

Environment-friendly features have prompted the Hong Kong Green Building Council to award a BEAM Plus Provisional Gold Rating on the Twin Towers project. BEAM is an official green-building labelling tool designed to evaluate environmental performance of buildings in Hong Kong.

Green features at Twin Towers include low-emissivity (Low-E) insulated glass to reduce energy spent on cooling, along with bio-diesel generators for production of renewable energy, plus LED-based lighting controlled by a building management system to reduce wastage. And all basement car parks come complete with EV-charging facilities.

The HK$848 million project represents one of ATAL’s largest building services contracts to date and benefits from the company’s building information modelling (BIM) know-how, as well as its credentials as a full package contractor responsible for HVAC, electrical, fire services, plumbing and drainage and ELV systems installation.

Five green-building accreditations

Another part of ATAL’s KTD “footprint” is a 200-metre-tall Grade A office building and multi-storey retail complex covering a total gross floor area of 1.2 million square feet. The project is situated next to Twin Towers and at the heart of the old airport site, representing a contract worth approximately HK$700 million.

This eco-friendly management “flagship” project has become the first Hong Kong development to be awarded five of the highest-ranking green-building accreditations. These are US LEED platinum pre-certification, provisional Hong Kong BEAM Plus New Building platinum certification, platinum WELL Building Standard pre-certification, final platinum certification of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood and final certification of the China Green Building Three-Star Label.

ATAL is MEP contractor for installation of fire services and a building management system (BMS) for the entire project. We are also responsible for mechanical, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, plus electrical installations for the podium and basement floors.

This will be ATAL’s first full-scale deployment of BIM for a commercial mall. A dedicated BIM team has been formed by specialists from the client, main contractor and sub-contractors. Our engineering experts are working together to produce a visualisation of the construction process, along with various systems, plus production of a Combined Services Model to LOD 500, the highest standard in the BIM Level of Detail (LOD) scale.

Once again, sustainability and environmental performance are crucially-important project hallmarks. For example, a District Cooling System (DCS) serves the entire KTD area to reduce electricity consumption of the air-conditioning systems by 35%. As an MEP contractor, ATAL will integrate the DCS with the building’s own chilled water circulation systems.

Residential complex for smart lifestyles

Our third project in the KTD is a five-tower luxury residential development amounting to 1.1 million square feet of gross floor area, complete with a retail podium of 200,000 square feet. This includes an underground shopping street and access to the Kai Tak MTR station.

Worth HK$202 million to ATAL, this project is scheduled to complete in 2024. ATAL’s role as plumbing and drainage system contractor fits perfectly with the KTD’s emphasis on sustainable smart living, because a smart water meter system will be deployed to automatically collect consumption data from individual households. The Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) System has been established by the Water Supplies Department as a key smart city element. Smart metering will be deployed throughout most of the KTD in the interests of environmental sustainability.

Ir Victor Law, Executive Director of ATAL Engineering Group, said: “ATAL’s role in creating CBD2 forms part of our overall contribution to Hong Kong’s long-term economic growth and development as a world-class smart city. We are delighted to have been chosen to make such a significant contribution to the city’s new CBD. ATAL’s expertise in new technologies such as BIM and our distinctive approach to sustainability will be channelled into meeting the requirements of these contracts.”

ATAL plays a key role to create CBD2 in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Development

The Twin Towers benefits from MEP and ELV systems installation solutions from ATAL

ATAL’s BIM expertise is instrumental to the Grade A office and multi-storey retail complex project – the first Hong Kong construction to receive five highest green-building accreditations