At 126 meters, the Capital Fort Business Center in Sofia is Bulgaria’s very first skyscraper and thus a particularly prestigious building. Investor in the project is Fort Noks, a company with a strong position on the Bulgarian real estate market. In this venture, Fort Noks worked together with renowned partners well known for top performance in their respective areas.
New eye-catcher
The Business Center consists of two elements – a main tower and an office building that is about half its height. The two buildings together offer a usable space of around 80 000 square meters. In addition to this the complex features an underground parking lot on two levels that provides space for 750 vehicles. Capital Fort is situated directly on one of the most important traffic links in downtown Sofia. With its 28-floor tower,it could well become a new landmark in the Bulgarian capital.
A range of uses
The two buildings of the Business Centernot only provide extensive office premises but also a wide range of service facilities. These include a financial center, conference areas, restaurants and fast food outlets with a conservatory, shops, a fitness center, a special childcare area and a beauty salon.
Invisible strength
The investor was determined to create an outstanding project in every sense of the word. And in terms of its visible height, that has certainly been achieved. But a Business Center of this dimension also has to distinguish itself with hidden strengths: top-class technical infrastructure. The data cabling in particular has to be of superior quality when it comes to safety, speed and reliability.
Premium cabling
That is why Fort Noks required a partner that would be an expert consultant and provide the very best service as well as top-quality products in all phases of the project: from design and planning through realization to delivery, installation and warranty. In R&M, Fort Noks found a partner that could fulfill these requirements in full. R&M’s success in the reference project Business Park Sofia certainly played a part in the Swiss company being awarded the Capital Fort contract.
Striking architecture
The project developer engaged in a collaboration with the globally active British engineering company Atkins for architecture and implementation. With almost 14 000 employees worldwide, Atkins is responsible for renowned buildings such as the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and the Bahrain World Trade Center. Atkins commissioned the two Bulgarian companies A&A Architects and Lindner Immobilien Management to oversee the construction project on site.
The greatest challenge in terms of the data cabling was the complexity of the building: The many different user areas, such as office spaces, shopping mall, bank branches etc., all made their very own specific demands on the infrastructure. R&M provided a customized solution, tailored exactly to the requirements of the client and the various users.
High complexity
The greatest challenge in terms of the data cabling was the complexity of the building: The many different user areas, such as office spaces, shopping mall, bank branches etc., all made their very own specific demands on the infrastructure. R&M provided a customized solution, tailored exactly to the requirements of the client and the various users. The extensive experience of the local R&M team was particularly helpful in the consulting and project planning stages.
Full flexibility
R&M implemented a classic topology with a fiber-optic backbone and shielded horizontal 10GBASE-T copper cabling. The solution is based on the 3-connector model with U-Boxes as distributors (consolidation points). The U-Boxes bring compact flexibility to office cabling. The universal installation platforms with modular connector systems distribute communication, data and power cabling in raised floors and were configured to suit the different areas of the building. A concept entailing consolidation points gives users the greatest possible flexibility if the number of workstations needed, or indeed any other requirements, should change.
Outstanding prospects
The R&M cabling also serves as a basis for low-voltage applications, such as access monitoring, video surveillance, fire alarms etc. The concept thus complies with the EN 50173-6 standard (Information Technology – Generic Cabling Systems – Part 6: Distributed Building Services).
Capital Fort will be opened in the second quarter of 2015. Based on this outstanding reference, R&M is hoping to continue the successful collaboration with investor Fort Noks and acquire further key accounts on the Bulgarian market.