MEP Design Considerations for Luxury Condominiums
Luxury residential design comes with its own unique set of engineering challenges and considerations. Our firm’s principles drive us to constantly learn and apply foresight through all aspects of our decision-making. This includes coming into market sectors prepared with what is important to clients like the following considerations:
Tenant Controls – Lighting, HVAC, A/V, Etc.
A solid and purposeful controls strategy is paramount to achieving not just a unique space but also one that feels effortless in its operation. Understanding the various user requirements for control of lighting, receptacle, shade, HVAC, and audio-visual systems and working to develop a comprehensive and unified strategy will ensure that the user’s vision for a relaxing and comfortable space is achieved. This strategy must include items such as:
Ideal locations for control switches within each room
Operation of each switch and button
Integration of numerous systems into a single control location (lighting, shades, A/V)
TLE will use the information gathered from client discussions to develop a thorough controls markup for review with the team, which will lay out our vision for the space and the seamless operations strategy we recommend for the best end-user experience.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) – Humidity & Moisture Control
Initial determination of the ventilation strategy will be critical for determining the unit-level approach to humidity and moisture control. Ideally, outside air is provided to each condo pre-treated through a central DOAS or an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) to aid with “drying” the air prior to reaching the condo’s mechanical system. Additionally, providing enough ventilation air to keep the condo slightly positive helps with preventing infiltration. Reviewing the outside air equipment and air balance of the unit will be our first step in IAQ control.
The next step in ensuring optimal IAQ is selecting and properly sizing the condo air conditioning units. Oversizing equipment can lead to short cycling, which does not allow the system to run continuously, removing moisture from the space, while also adding additional stress on the unit’s internal components, shortening its lifespan. Determining the proper size and quantity of equipment for the space will ensure a comfortable environment for all occupants. Once the proper sizing is determined, additional accessories to units can be explored, like dehumidification and reheat cycles.
Acoustics
Any environment where occupants will be sleeping creates strict acoustic considerations. These considerations are escalated even further when catering to clients for high-end luxury condominiums. All trades are impacted by strict noise restrictions and can implement strategies to improve the sound environment:
Insulation of plumbing drain piping: Applicable to all piping materials, but even more so when PVC piping is utilized, which is common in South Florida.
Utilizing ducted HVAC units: Sound-lined ductwork and incorporating bends help mitigate noise transmission through distribution.
Unit isolation: Ensure units are installed with proper detailing and isolation to prevent vibration transfer.
While TLE is not an acoustic engineer, we will apply all engineering best practices possible to ensure that occupants are comfortable in their environment.
Water Quality
Identifying the domestic water strategy will be critical for determining the unit-level space requirements and/or limitations of storage versus recovery. Once identified, detailed fixture calculations will be performed to estimate hot water load for units, which can be high for some of the larger units that include 3+ bathroom groups, kitchens, laundry, etc.
For the domestic cold water, the first item to be reviewed is the available pressure. Highly customized units may have fixtures or equipment that require atypical water pressures. Ensuring the pressure early will allow our team to provide feasibility of all desired items.
Metering Requirements
An understanding of which systems will be billed per condo or shared through common charges is critical to designing an effective metering system. Metering can span across all trades, including electric, HVAC hydronic systems, and domestic cold and hot water systems.
Specialty Equipment
Deep understanding of the requirements and design strategy for specialty equipment is the name of the game when it comes to luxury residential design. At TLE, we have designed for various specialty equipment, including radiant heated floors, in-unit saunas, as well as unique and intricate kitchen equipment. These pieces of equipment should be evaluated not only for their impact on the unit but also for the upstream impacts these pieces of equipment could have on the overall building systems.
(Photo credit - Adrian Diaz-Sieckel)