The design of a new headquarters building for the Turkish Contractors Association situated in Ankara, Turkey.
The client’s aspiration is to create a class-leading environmental design for the TMB HQ development which aims to achieve an international environmental standard LEED Gold rating. As such, the building has been designed to adopt and utilise the local climate patterns and resources to optimise the building’s environmental performance.
To meet the desires of the client, a highly energy-efficient ventilation system, which extensively utilises thermal mass to take advantage of the significant temperature difference between day and night in Ankara, has been proposed. A labyrinth is built under the basement of the building to act as a thermal store. The extended contact of the fresh air intake with the ground and the concrete will provide passive heating in winter and cooling in summer. A night purge cycle is utilised to dissipate the heat build-up throughout the day and pre-cool the labyrinth prior to the start of each day.
Active thermal mass will be integrated on the office floor and coupled with active chilled beams. The thermal mass consists of small bore ductwork cast in concrete slabs, providing a surface to absorb internal gains and at the same time utilising this heat to warm the incoming air to the internal spaces, therefore reducing energy usage at the air handling unit. The internal climate is accurately controlled by the chilled beam terminal units to ensure occupants’ comfort.
The key environmental strategies which have been incorporated into the TMB building include excellent building envelope insulation, minimum infiltration, bespoke façade optimisation design, engineered solar control, labyrinth ventilation, active integrated thermal slab and chilled beams cooling, evacuated tube solar water heating and grey water and rainwater recycling.
