October 4, 2005 -- For the trade press -- In addition to the offices of the Agbar Group, the 39 floors of this 142-meter tower block, designed by celebrity French architect Jean Nouvel, also accommodate conference rooms, parking decks and technical installations. The cartridge-like shape of the building symbolizes the Montserrat peak overlooking Barcelona. Striking features of the building are the asymmetric layout of the 4400 windows and some 60 000 glass cladding elements.
The special requirements of the architect and the operator with regard to equipment providing protection against fire risks were also implemented successfully with the installation of the fire detection system from Siemens Building Technologies featuring interactive smoke and heat sensors, manual alarm points and automatic door management. The system is linked to dry extinguishing systems (FM200) for the technical premises and the communications systems. The interaction of early-stage fire detection and selective extinguishing provides protection against loss of production, loss of data or prolonged interruptions to operations.
The construction costs for Torre Agbar totaled some 133 million euros, with the cost of fire protection installations accounting for some 255 000 euros.
