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The subject of e-ready buildings is fast becoming a hot issue for property developers and managers who need to justify their investment and meet the communication demands of their tenants now and in the future. Leading developers of office space are looking to built-in IT infrastructure and services to differentiate their offering and provide additional revenue streams.
Sweden is home to one of Europe’s most prestigious new business parks, InfraCity, located at Upplands-Vasby, 23km from Stockholm. Managed and owned by Vasakronan AB, tenants in the new e-ready building include international companies such as Kodak, British Airways and Rank Xerox. The building was completed in December 2000.
InfraCity’s Managing Director, Anders Arnell, is fully aware of issues faced by property developers / managers in today’s market. This is why he placed great emphasis on making the right choice of communications network during the initial design stages of the project. Arnell explains: At InfraCity we are looking to the future and defining our management and development approach. We need to plan now to ensure we can meet our tenants’ requirements in terms of environment and technology for the next decade. The need for increased mobility in office environments and more emphasis on project bases than staff positions, calls for increased flexibility from office buildings. To provide a future proof system with maximum flexibility for tenants, Arnell opted for a high density Category 6 structured cabling system from leading manufacturer Molex Premise Networks, installed by Siemens.
Arnell explains: Integrating the network into the fabric of the building provides cost-effective flexibility. There is minimum disruption when a tenant moves into office space as all services, including power, data and voice, are easily accessible. With nearly 19,000 outlets, InfraCity is the biggest Category 6 installation in Europe. Arnell’s demand for maximum outlets taking up minimum space proposed a challenge for Molex and installer Siemens. In-line with Vasakronens management strategy the best way to meet the demands at InfraCity was to flood-wire the office space to ensure sufficient outlets were available for maximum occupancy. By choosing this solution, Arnell has cut out the need for future expenditure when new tenants move in or an existing tenant expands. The pay-back is imminent. Each tenant in the building has its own server housed in one of two computer rooms located on each floor. A fibre back-bone is installed which connects the computer rooms to a main communications room on the ground floor.
The layout was optimised through careful design and planning combined with a unique under floor cable management system. Ake Muhonen, Senior Project Manager, of Siemens explains: Space was at a premium in the floor cavity as it is only 60mm deep. The electrical network was also installed in the floor which meant cable-crossings had to be kept to the minimum. Space was particularly tight at the entry points to the computer rooms.
A grid of cable pegs under the floor is used to route the cable to any location in the office space. The system is easy to use and allows the user to clearly identify the route of each cable by removing individual floor tiles. They also provide a neat solution for flood-wiring, because at every outlet there is space to coil spare cable which can reach any desk within a two metre radius.
Curt Berglind, Molex Premise Networks Nordic region Sales Manager said: Molex worked closely with Siemens throughout the installation process to ensure that all components and cables met our installation criteria so that we could offer Vasakronen AB the benefit of our comprehensive 25 year product warranty.
Arnell explains: By installing PowerCat 6, InfraCity has a high speed network which can operate at up to 200MHz. The Molex solution has provided us with the high performance we need at a cost-effective price.
There are benefits for the landlord and tenant by offering an e-ready building. The landlord receives higher rents and decreased void times between tenants, and tenants gain immediate access to a high-speed IT infrastructure with minimum capital outlay.
