Commissioning and MEP Design - Buffalo, NY

Buffalo-based Delaware North Companies, Inc., a privately held hospitality and entertainment company with operations on four continents, hired an international architectural team that included Erdman Anthony to lead the design of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems at its corporate headquarters. Project goals involved increasing space utilization, making sustainable design choices, and keeping the client’s plans for growth in mind.

Key facets of the project included designing mechanical systems to provide code-required ventilation via central building-wide ventilation units, providing local zone conditioning via four-pipe fan coil units with variable air volume boxes that controlled the ventilation air based on occupancy, and integrating local HVAC controls into the overall building management system.

Our team incorporated LED lighting, daylighting in the perimeter executive offices, and occupancy lighting controls into the design to minimize the light power density of the space to 26 percent better than energy code and maximize individual controllability for the occupants. 

The plumbing was extended to both common and private areas, with hot and cold water provided to each floor, except in the staff restrooms, which had local electric water heaters. Our team specified low-flow fixtures in the design for the sake of sustainability. 

The fire-protection and fire-alarm components also were extended from the base building systems and designed to provide the code-required coverage.