PACE provided mechanical, plumbing, and electrical engineering design and construction services for the renovation and tenant upfit of approximately 5,700 square feet of space on the 5th floor of the Convergence Center Two building in Virginia Beach. The space offers Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) wet / dry laboratory space, private offices, meeting spaces, and informal ‘hot desking’ collaboration space. Flexibility was a key design component, allowing much of the space to serve multiple functions, including the ability to seamlessly switch from lab to office with minimal physical effort or financial cost.
The Virginia Beach Bio Incubator Space is envisioned by the City of Virginia Beach Economic Development to house small bio start-ups, providing a community to encourage and foster innovation, research, and entrepreneurship. The facility serves several industry sectors including medical devices development, environmental science, biotechnology, light advanced manufacturing or assembly / processing and service providers. The Incubator is being leased to start-up companies to test and develop ideas and offers professional training sessions to help its researchers develop the business side of their efforts.
The mechanical design included utilizing an existing vertical self-contained variable volume air handler and adapting it to the needs of Virginia Beach Bio Incubator Spaces. The project utilized fan-powered type terminal units for the open areas/non-sensitive office areas and shutoff type air terminal units for the spaces that have critical testing and lab type spaces. The lab spaces were designed with dedicated exhaust systems to ensure the space was negative and to keep fumes and other contaminants from distributing throughout the building. Dedicated exhaust was provided for the fume hood to ensure no hazardous gases leak into the space, and above the steam sterilizer to ensure that moisture was properly removed from the building.
The electrical design included a 480/277-volt, 3-phase feed from the building main electrical room on the first floor to serve the new equipment. The facility required emergency backup for sensitive experiments and a 20kW diesel engine generator was provided on the first floor to serve these needs. Power was provided to lab supplied equipment, but for flexibility quad receptacles were provided along all working surfaces to ensure sufficient power was available.
The plumbing design included was designed in accordance with the 2015 Virginia Plumbing Code. Plumbing design started from existing group restroom waste and water piping on 5th floor. Design was based on a population of 123 women/men. Although LEED certification was not required, fixtures and equipment were designed to conserve energy and water. The circulation system was provided in accordance with 2015 VECC C404.6.1. Tempered water was provided to hand sinks via ASSE 1070 temperature limiting devices in accordance with VPC 419.5 & 607.1.2. Safety deck mounted face/eyewash systems were provided with tepid water and located next to sinks in the wet labs in accordance with ANSI Z358.1-2014. A recessed barrier-free eye/face wash and shower head system with tepid water was provided outside of wet labs in accordance with ANSI Z358.1-2014.
A Deionized water (DI) filter system and Reverse Osmosis (RO) was provided to serve glass washer, sterilizer, and autoclave equipment in BSL1 Lab. Deionized water and Reverse Osmosis was provided via a backflow prevented line to all process equipment requiring deionized water and reverse osmosis. Piping for the DI/RO system was polypropylene/fused joint pipe that would have a 3’ maximum dead-end run.
The fire protection scope of work included modifications of the existing wet pipe sprinkler system serving the previous shell space as required to suit the tenant buildout. Concealed sprinklers were used to ensure a modern look. Modifications were designed in accordance with NFPA 13 and the Virginia Construction Code.
The fire alarm system design included initiation and notification devices that interfaced to the existing building fire alarm system. Manual activation of the pull stations, located within 5 feet of all exits, automatic activation of smoke, heat, and duct mounted smoke detectors, in addition to sprinkler system water flow alarm devices will cause a signal to be sent to the Fire Alarm Control Panel. Activation of a smoke or heat detector, or water- flow switch will immediately result in a general alarm signal which will activate all audible and visual notification devices. The fire alarm system also monitors the following supervisory conditions: tamper switches on the sprinkler system and duct detectors for air handling units with supply airflow in excess of 2,000 cfm. Activation of these devices will immediately result in a system supervisory signal. Audible notification devices for the fire alarm system are speakers and speaker/strobes. Visual notification devices for the system are designated to be clear strobes. Notification devises include the label “FIRE.”
Duct mounted smoke detectors were installed to monitor air handling units with return air flows in excess of 2,000 cfm. These devices will transmit a supervisory signal to the Fire Alarm panel and allow for initiation of AHU shutdown.
The special systems design included a complete raceway infrastructure consisting of raceway and outlet boxes for telephone/data, closed circuit television, security, access control, audio/visual, and other low voltage systems as coordinated with the Owner/Owners Vendor(s) as required.
