Project Details
West Kowloon Rail Terminus
LOCATION
Hong Kong
CLIENT
MTR Corporation Limited
DESCRIPTION
Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Rail Terminus, located centrally in Hong Kong within the city's existing urban realm, the 430,000 square meters facility with fifteen tracks will be one of the largest below ground terminus station in the world, is using more than 800 actuators from SE Controls Asia Pacific as a key part of the building’s smoke control system to ensure that all 423 vents open simultaneously to ensure escape routes are kept clear of smoke should a fire occur.
Designed by Aedas Architects, the £8.5 billion (HK$84.4 billon) multi-storey structure uses 4,000 glass panels in its extensive glazed façade and curved geometric floating roof design, which allows natural light into the building, as well as creating a 45 metre high atrium.
Opened in late September 2018, more than 80,000 passengers are expected to use the new terminus each day to travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen on the new 579 seat high speed trains, which can reach up to 236mph (380km/h). The rail station’s ticket office, platform and separate arrival & departure level extend 4 floors below ground level.
There were 432 bottom hung smoke vents, each of which is a different size and has its own unique parallelogram or trapezoid shape due to the structure. In addition, as they are located in the uppermost level of the inclined clerestory glazing and skylight of the terminus roof, none of the glazed smoke vents were installed vertically.
#Smoke Extraction System
#Smoke Ventilation
#Hot Smoke Test
#Fail-safe Actuator
As the atrium acts as a single large smoke zone, every smoke vent opens automatically when a fire is detected, providing maximum smoke and heat exhaust ventilation. Depending on the size of the vent, either 2 or 4 failsafe locking catches are installed on each ventilator.
Once the automatic atrium vents are fully open and hot air is vented, make up air enters the building below the 2.5 metre smoke layer through the escalator void openings with fans operating to compensate for the volume of smoke being vented from the fire area. Automatic fire suppression systems and supplementary smoke curtains are also installed as part of the building’s fire protection systems.