MAVD News: 2006

CAM Magazine

April 2006

Building in Cyberspace

By Mary E. Kremposky
Associate Editor
CAM Magazine, April 2006

The speed limit is increasing on the Information Superhighway. Behind the sleek curve of glass curtain wall of the new South State Commons Two building, the Michigan Information Technology Center (MITC) Foundation and other cutting-edge organizations are charting a new course in cyberspace. Built by Southfield-based Skanska USA Building Inc., the building's technological capabilities are among the most sophisticated in the nation. Able to transmit more data at a faster rate, this Ann Arbor facility is hot-wired to deliver next-generation videoconferencing with the clarity of a television image. MITC's main conference room can link speakers in 100 different locations across the globe with the ease of a friendly backyard chat between neighbors.

As part of its mission, the MITC Foundation, the anchor of this high-tech think tank and multi-tenant office building, is exploring real-life applications of real-time videoconferencing. “A surgery being performed in a hospital a thousand miles away was watched in real time by consulting physicians who asked questions and provided input from this facility,” said Carl Luckenbach, principal of Luckenbach/Ziegelman Architects, PLLC, LZA served as architect of record, and Neumann/Smith & Associates as associate architect, on the four-story, 132,000-square-foot-building.

A HIGH·TECH HOME

From development through design and construction, creating this portal to the future required a visionary core of organizations. Hoping to promote the state as a cradle for new IT companies that might spin off from high-speed internet applications, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation channeled a $10 million dollar grant 10 the city of Ann Arbor through the Washtenaw Development Council. The Council worked with MITC In selecting a developer and appropriate site for this innovative new venture. After selection as the developer of choice, MAVDevelopment Company, the operations arm of building owner, South State Commons Two LLC, assembled the design and construction team, managing the process for MITC essentially as a build-to-suit arrangement.

“The Foundation selected MAVDevelopment, and it has never been sorry,” said Betty J.Burke, MIC facilities manager. "They took a great leap of faith in that they worked with us to build a building that they own but that meets our needs. That is a lot of trust. It has been very rewarding experience from working with the architects to working with the construction team at Skanska.... The facility is wonderful and more than meets all our expectations.”

Building a highly wired home for three IT organizations was the driving force of the project. Internet2, a national service provider and research organization of more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government, occupies the entire third floor of the building. As described on the MITC website, “lnternet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet.” Occupying most of the second floor, the Merit Network operates the largest Internet service' provider network in the state of Michigan and services primarily higher education institutions and nonprofit research organizations in the state. MITC, itself, occupies the entire first floor. According to Burke, MITC is a nonprofit organization with a threefold mission: to keep Internet2 in the state of Michigan, to serve as an economic stimulus for Michigan’s economy, and to create an Internet Hall of Fame highlighting Michigan’s leadership in IT technology, said Burke, who also coordinates efforts between Internet2 and Merit. two of the principal members of the Foundation.

A PIPELINE TO THE FUTURE

The immense power and data needs of the building’s clientele led to the selection of the South State Campus as the site of choice. "One of the site advantages was the close proximity and ease of access to the fiber-optic network both on nearby State Street and on the parallel roadway on the other side of the complex," said Daniel P. Mooney., AlA, LZA project architect. “Basically, we were able to bring cable In from two directions and provide redundancies." Available electrical utilities on the site fed the facility’s enormous power needs, as well.

In another innovative partnership, MITC worked with the City of Ann Arbor to gain access to the city's conduit system., saving time and money. “Our own fiber travels through the city's conduit system and comes into this building." said Burke.

The future - that great zone of possibility and uncertainty - dominated the project. "A key part of the project was designing for today’s capacity but still being flexible enough to meet tomorrow's needs, which we don't even fully understand yet," said Burke.

An open mind and nimble planning helped the project team meet the projects known and unknown infrastructure demands. During site infrastructure construction, we installed multiple banks of concrete-encased conduits, coming into the building from both directions,” said Mark S. Melchi, AIA, MAVD vice president, Design & Construction Group. “At MAVD’s end, we were willing to take a bit of risk and take the plunge in installing infrastructure without having all the answers. We wanted to make sure we built enough infrastructure into the site and underground, so we wouldn't have to come back and retrofit. It has really dovetailed beautifully with the tenants and now the data center."

BUILDING A HIGH-TECH SANCTUARY

Building a weatherproof data center that will soon house racks of equipment and consume 200 watts of power per square foot was only one of the tasks entrusted to Skanska during construction of the building's $16.5 million dollar core and shell. Skanska essentially built a steel-framed office building on top of a 10,000-square-foot concrete box slated to house a data center ranking in the upper echelon of such facilities across the nation. The data center has cast-in-place concrete walls with a cast-in-place concrete deck on the first floor, both one-foot thick (the main expanse of office building rests on conventional spread footings). "After they were done casting the first floor, it was almost as if we were building a separate steel-framed building on top,” said Cliff Goodman, Skanska’s project superintendent.

With a concrete separation between the two different building components, the "vault" provided shelter for further work and a pleasant break area for the crew in the winter. “Because of our concrete separation, while we had 15 people swinging iron, we also had a crew working downstairs,” said Goodman. "As the columns for the steel were being erected, we were able to start the underground plumbing and the electrical as well as the slab on grade and masonry."

The concrete vault assisted the schedule and provided a safe working environment. "Working underneath the building and performing the underground work while erecting steel was a real scheduling and safety benefit," added Chris S. Becker, Skanska's senior project manager. "This concrete ‘bath tub' is on a sunken slab, ensuring the data center's 24-inch-high raised floor platform will be flush with the rest of the basement.”

Beyond the thick concrete shell the site's wet clay soil and the need to protect the center's extensive array of sensitive equipment required extra drainage measures. “We opted for installation of a heavy-duty vapor barrier to ensure the data center stays dry, plus we have extra drainage underneath the building," said Mooney. "We used kind of a 'belt and suspenders’ approach. Any water that comes down the sloped site and hits the building flows under and then beyond the building."

Equipping the already constructed data center (the main MITC building was completed in January 2005) is slated to begin in early March 2006 and reach completion by the end of November or early December 2006. Design has been underway for almost two years on this complex data center, said Becker. The $17 million, state-of-the-art center will be a highly secure, tier three (a reference to its security ranking) facility. "I assure you there will be none that will equal the type of facility that we will be building here in the next nine months,” said Burke. "Just like the conference center, the data center will certainly house leading-edge, futuristic technology.

The data center will provide MITC and its companion IT companies with high bandwidth connectivity directly at the facility. Currently, MITC obtains its connectivity from Merit and Internet2 whose connections are in Chicago, said Burke.

Electrical and mechanical work will dominate the current project and will provide power and cooling for the banks of equipment that will collectively generate massive quantities of heat. “Several self-contained Liebert units will help cool the space,” said Becker. 'We also have an uninterrupted power supply system to bridge the gap between local power outage and the startup of the center’s three backup generator systems fueled by 5,000- to 10,000-gallon diesel tanks”. Limbach Company, Pontiac, is the mechanical contractor, and Cleveland-based Doan/Pyramid Electric LLC is the electrical contractor. Already constructed ancillary spaces totaling 5,000 square feet and including a staging and receiving area, and electrical room, and pump room will service the center’s equipment needs, added Luckenbach.

THE $l.5 MILLION DOLLAR PLAN

From basement to rooftop, the data center shaped the entire building. Because sizeable rooftop chillers are needed to cool the data center, Skanska poured a 5-inch-thick concrete slab on the roof to attenuate the noise and vibration from the roof to the fourth floor and avoid disturbing potential top-floor tenants, said Mooney.

Winter conditions rather than thickness of the slab presented the prime construction challenge, added Goodman. “In pouring an exposed slab on the roof, we basically filled the fourth floor full of heat to keep the deck warm,” he said. “It took a great deal of effort just getting the concrete to the roof via concrete pumps. Finish wasn’t a concern for the roof slab, because it is buried below insulation and a single-ply rubber membrane. Primarily, we had to make sure the concrete was properly placed and developed its strength.”

From a design perspective, without knowing the exact parameters of the future data center, the design team had to estimate the size and number of rooftop chillers needed to cool the data center and to plan the placement of the steel framing as well, said Mooney. Fortunately, effective planning eliminated the need to dissemble the roof and insert new steel once the data center moved forward.

Altogether, approximately $1.5 million was spent in future preparations for the data center, said Becker. “We also had to put in plumbing lines that ran all the way through the building to accommodate the future data center,” he added.

The $20 million dollar project came in under budget. “The projected ended up under budget to the point of almost the entire contingency was returned,” said Mooney. “We were fortunate with our timing on the steel, being one of the last projects that got inexpensive steel.”

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

The cutting-edge IT firms now working within South State Commons Two have found a fitting home. The subtle curvature of the building’s entire front elevation and the sheen of its expansive glass curtain wall evoke MITC’s futuristic mission. The remaining building elevations are clad in precast concrete panels to blend with South State Commons One, a 100,000-square-foot development whose fairly conservative appearance is in sync with its tenant base of law and financial firms. “We wanted an expression for this building that maintained a family resemblance with South State One, but projected more of a ‘teckie’ contemporary image,” said Luckenbach.

At the roofline, a wide metal canopy follows and accents the building’s curve. Together, the high-performance reflective glass and a series of repetitive sunshades – small metal overhangs marching up the curtain wall – shield the interior from the full force of the sun’s western rays and reinforce the building’s sleek technological image. “We solved two issues at once,” said Luckenbach. “We handled both and environmental control issue and an image issue.”

The construction team contributed its own expertise to the shaping of this unique facility in the western part of Ann Arbor. The glazing contractor, American Glass and Metals, Plymouth, devised a trolley and electric winch system for efficient placement of the glass panels that stack on top of each other and interlock male and female from the north to the south. Goodman explains: “Approved by the structural engineer, the trolley system was anchored from the cantilevered steel beams that are part of the large metal canopy at the roofline. Beginning on the first level of the first floor, American Glass & Metals methodically stacked the panels all the way to the fourth floor before moving the trolley and winch south to the next section of façade and eventually working its way across the entire western building elevation. It was actually American Glass’ design, and it worked out very well.”

Slender metal-clad columns and a stainless steel canopy part the curved wave of curtain wall and mark the entry into this building with its unseen but intricate grid of fiber-optic cable, its hidden media cabinets, innumerable banks of Web servers, and an entire interior humming with the invisible signals of wireless networks.

THE WONDERS OF HIGH BANDWIDTH

All of this advanced technology is focused on easing communication between people across the region, the state and the globe. With its higher bandwidth network capacity- essentially the ability to transmit more data at a faster pace- MITC’s state-of-the-art video conference activity with its Access Grid technology offers an unparalleled interactive interchange in real time. Video images on the traditional Internet or Web cast may be choppy or marred by ghost images created by transmission delays. “The bandwidth and equipment that we have in this facility removes those barriers,” said Burke. “When I say real time, it is very close to TV quality.”

Unlike a television or other videoconferencing fraught with time delays and with limits on the interactions between parties, at MITC multiple users can interact with ease. MITC recently conducted a type of town hall meeting that linked 65 people in five different locations around the state for an interactive discussion. In the future, the MITC facility hopes to facilitate high-school debates in real time between students scattered across the Upper Peninsula, southeast Michigan and Southwest Michigan.

“This emerging technology takes you a step beyond distance learning or typical video-conferencing,” said Burke. “…Other than high-end research university laboratories, you can’t find what we have in this conference center in the open market… On this screen, I could have 100 different end points somewhere else in the world or 100 different boxes representing people or rooms all interacting with perhaps 63 people in this room.”

The main conference room or tiered classroom has one voice-activated microphone for every two individuals and motion-activated cameras in the front and back of the room. The user need only sit and respond to the speaker in this transparent and user-friendly arrangement requiring no effort or knowledge of the wire, cable and cameras basically hidden within the room.

Shielding the interior from extraneous sounds aids the smooth functioning of these advanced technologies. The building has additional layers of drywall, sound masking systems, and the best grade possible of acoustical tiles and panels. Skanska filled the voids in the building’s cavity wall construction with two layers of 5/8th-inch board on each layer of wall surface. “The walls are quite thick and dense, and have insulation in between them,” said Goodman. “They are essentially sealed from the first floor up to the deck.”

The tiered classroom has insulating foam on the metal floor decking, acoustic panels on the wall, and a composite ceiling with acoustic batting. “The return air diffusers are sound insulated and ‘z’ shaped to prevent noise from circulating into the ceiling plenum,” added Melchi.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

In the halls, meeting rooms, and cubicles of the MITC building, 120 technologist work daily to harness the bandwidth network capability to create a technological “collective consciousness” of the globe linking millions of businesses, homes, and institutions. At MITC, communication is not confined to cyberspace. Within the MITC building, itself, the design team focused its efforts on helping Internet2 and the Merit Network evolve an entirely new working format with more of the openness of a think-tank environment. Both organizations are enjoying their “first custom-designed space with Internet2 moving from predominately isolated private offices to a collaborative, open environment with informal meetings spaces and areas for impromptu gathering,” said Mooney.

In terms of physical infrastructure, cable and conduit converge in LDF closets on each floor to transmit video, voice and data across the world. Trays loaded with color-coded cable – green for video, yellow for Voice over IP, and blue for standard data – fill the LDF closets stacked directly above one another on the first three floors. Because the network equipment housed in the LDF closets generates high levels of heat, each room has its own thermostat to control temperature. “For cooling, the heat generated in the closets was exhausted into the plenum space above the ceiling,” said Goodman. Limbach Co. handled the design/build mechanical contract, and G & S Electric Company, Troy, executed the design/build electrical for this demanding project.

Cable and conduit snakes through three floors until reaching the technological heart of the first three floors – the Main Distribution Facility (MDF) located at basement level. The MDF room is a smaller version of the soon-to-be constructed data center. “These organizations need a vast amount of network resources,” said Burke. “The room contains Web servers, secure card databases, financial transaction machines, and e-mail servers. We can eventually accommodate 63 racks of equipment, all cooled by a Liebert unit in the MDF room.”

The emerging data center will house even more racks of computer equipment and generate even greater power delivery and cooling demands. “Power delivery is anywhere from about 65 to 100 watts per square foot in the MDF room as compared to 200 watts per square foot in the date center,” said Burke. “The data center will also accommodate hot spots requiring additional power.”

Conduit, cable and wire snake through the MITC interior and will soon link the MDF room to the new data center. Conduits are currently in place in the conference facility awaiting linkage with the data center and serving as an example of the placement of redundant conduit throughout the facility in anticipation of future demand. Wiring needs constantly shifted throughout construction of the project. “The size, number and location of the wire constantly evolved throughout the project,” said Mooney. “In some cases, wiring decisions were made only four or five months before the building opened.” Altogether, the intricate wiring in the walls, the MDF and the emerging data center form a type of synthetic neural network encased in the building’s concrete and drywall.

A MATERIAL OASIS

Even technologists immersed in revolutionizing the Internet need some relief from the rigors of cyberspace. The building contains a fitness center, operable windows for fresh air, and visually appealing lobbies adding a touch of material richness to this high-tech haven. Cherry veneer paneling and solid maple accent bands fill the lobbies with the warmth of wood, and serve as the perfect foil for the sleek stainless steel and low iron glass cladding the upper levels of the main lobby’s atrium. Bridges of structural fritted glass, composed of three laminated layers of heat-strengthened glass, span the main lobby on the upper levels.

In the east or employee lobby, as two-story wall of wood veneer faces an expanse of gray porcelain wall tile marked by a pattern of aluminum accent dots and a line of circular light fixtures. Together, the wood, patterned wall cladding, and light fixtures weave together a pleasing high-tech harmony. Overhead, cutting-edge light reflectors are attached to perforated metal ceiling panels. Manufactured by Zumtabel, the Miros reflectors are the first installation of this lighting system in this part of the country. The actual light fixtures, installed mid-way along the wall, direct light toward the ceiling reflectors that illuminate the space below. “This system provides and operational advantage,” said Luckenbach. “The maintenance staff can more easily change the light bulbs located on the wall rather than the ceiling.”

Custom wood soffits mark each elevator lobby. Each oblong soffit is built of four sections of millwork with a substantial steel frame on the top. Each assembly of wood and steel “probably together weighs about 1,300 pounds,” and is held together with aircraft cable with expansion bolts under the bottom side of the deck above. “We built each soffit on sawhorses with planking in between them,” recalls Goodman. “Each soffit was picked up as one unit. The carpenter foreman was able to get up there and clamp down all the aircraft cables to hold it.”

MITC operates the conference center and shares its home with several other organizations in this multi-tenant office building, including Plante & Moran, PLLC on the fourth floor, the Washtenaw Development Council, and the University of Michigan’s Ross Executive Education Program on the first floor. A recently opened café in the MITC building will serve the expanding South Sate Commons campus, which will soon include a third major, multi-tenant office building call South State Commons Three.

The future of the MITC building includes the opening of the Michigan Internet Hall of Fame in a space adjacent to the main lobby. The Hall of Fame will recognize Michigan’s role and the efforts of significant individuals in bringing advanced networking and technology into place. “I am not sure that many people know that the first generation of the Internet – what we call the NSF net, which is not today’s commodity Internet or the Internet that everybody uses from their home and elsewhere – was actually designed, developed, and maintained here in Michigan,” said Burke.

The future of MITC, itself, involves expanded community outreach. The ultimate goal of MITC is not only to rent the use of its conference facilities, but also to demonstrate and promote these exciting, cutting-edge technologies to businesses and the community. “The real goal of the MITC Foundation isn’t just to bring people to this facility, but to help promote the technology in which the anchor partners, such as the University of Michigan, have invested,” said Burke.

The cutting-edge initiatives behind the building’s glass curtain wall and within the concrete vault of its emerging data center can only bode well for Michigan’s future. A state more widely known for its manufacturing legacy than its roots in cyberspace, Michigan may be posed to join the active ranks of regions engaged in developing exciting new frontiers in technology.

THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR, ARCHITECT OR OWNER IDENTIFIES SUBCONTRACTORS LISTED IN THE CONSTRUCTION HIGHTLIGHT.

MICHIGAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CENTER – ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

• Design/Build Electrical – G & S Electric Company, Troy

• Design/Build HVAC – Limbach Company, Pontiac

• Earthwork & Site Utilities – Eagle Excavation Inc., Flint

• Landscaping – Tom’s Landscaping, Troy

• Foundations & Flatwork – B & B Concrete Placement, Romulus

• Precast Panels – Renaissance Precast Industries, River Rouge

• Structural Steel – Ross Structural Steel, Detroit

• Masonry – Baker Construction Co., Inc., Whitmore Lake

• Asphalt & Site Concrete – Simone Contracting Corporation, Sterling Heights

• Concrete – Gilardone Company LLC, Novi

• Fire Protection – Ann Arbor Fire Protection, Ann Arbor

• Hollow Metal Frames & Doors – AIRTEC Corporation, Detroit

• Dock Equipment – Alliance Material Handling Corp., Farmington Hills

• Elevators – Otis Elevator Company, Farmington Hills

• Waterproofing & Joint Sealants – Western Waterproofing, Livonia

• Glass & Glazing – American Glass & Metals Corp., Plymouth

• Single Ply Membrane Roofing – Bloom Roofing Systems, Inc., Ann Arbor

• Hard Tile & Terrazzo – Artisan Tile, Inc., Brighton

• Metal Panels & Column Covers – C.L. Rieckhoff Co., Inc., Taylor

• Drywall/Insulation/Ceilings – Acoustic Ceiling & Partition Co., Inc., Ann Arbor

• Painting – Madias Brothers, Inc., Detroit

• Roller Shades – Creative Windows, Ann Arbor

• Rough & Finish Carpentry – Wally Kosorski & Co., Inc., Clinton Twp.

• Sectional Overhead Doors – Detroit Door & Hardware Co., Madison Heights

• Toilet Partitions & Accessories – R.E. Leggette Company, Dearborn

• Wearing Coarse of Asphalt Pavement – Nagle Paving Company, Novi

• Flag Poles – Rocket Enterprise, Inc. Warren

• Carpet & Resilient Flooring – Navigation Business Space, Troy

• Furnish, Erect and Dismantle System Scaffolding Stair Tower – Scaffolding, Inc., Detroit

• Millwork – Lannuzzi Millwork, Inc., Fraser

Back to top

Back to News