Siemens Helps Design Miami Skyscraper’s Safety, Security, and Automation

• Panorama Tower is currently tallest building on the East Coast, south of Manhattan
• With 2.7 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space, building is “vertical city”
• Siemens smart building solutions allow for flexibility, future-proofing, and seamless transition from one part of building to another

Siemens is working with Florida East Coast Realty (FECR) to implement smart building solutions in Miami’s 85-story Panorama Tower. Technologies used throughout the residential, commercial, and retail space unify disparate fire and life safety systems, signal third-party elevator systems to restrict end user access by floor, and monitor and control more than 1,500 pieces of mechanical equipment throughout the complex. The solutions were installed with flexibility and future-proofing in mind but also to make it easier for occupants to go from one part of the building to another.

Located in the up-and-coming Brickell neighborhood, Panorama Tower is currently the tallest building on the East Coast, south of Manhattan. In addition to apartments, the building includes offices, restaurants, and shops, and connects to an adjacent 19-floor hotel. The entire space measures 2.7 million square feet, with occupants from both buildings able to access the Tower’s garage and pool. 

“The Panorama Tower project was seven years in the making and, as such, building systems originally specified had to be modified at times, to meet updated codes and changing occupant needs,” recalls Dean Warhaft, Chief Development Officer for FECR. “Siemens kept pace with our requirements and even anticipated future needs.”

“Integration was key to helping bring our customer’s vision of a vertical city to life,” notes Dave Hopping, President and CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA. “Our project team was able to figure out how to make several already-installed third-party systems in the Tower and neighboring hotel work cohesively with our smart building solutions. For tenants and visitors, this means being able to easily go from one part of the building to another while also being comfortable and safe.”

Siemens’ FireFinder® XLS system with global voice network acts as a comprehensive fire command center that controls fire alarm, smoke control, and containment technologies, all from a single platform. The fire panel also integrates a disparate carbon monoxide system from the garage.

Tower security is monitored by Siemens cameras and controlled by the SiPass® integrated access control system, which is compatible with third-party elevator control systems. The integrated systems allow occupants access to select floors, based on building credentials assigned to the key card and registered by the elevator system. For instance, hotel users can make use of the gym or pool, located on the residential Tower. 

Finally, more than 1,500 pieces of mechanical equipment located throughout the Tower are monitored and controlled using Siemens’ building automation. And for added security and reliability, Siemens recommended that building automation and security each have their own dedicated high-speed fiber optic network, separate from the residential network.

“Siemens helped create the seamless tenant experience we wanted for all of our building occupants,” concludes FECR’s Warhaft.

FireFinder and SiPass are registered trademarks of Siemens and/or its affiliates in some countries.

About Siemens

Siemens Smart Infrastructure (SI) is shaping the market for intelligent, adaptive infrastructure for today and the future. It addresses the pressing challenges of urbanization and climate change by connecting energy systems, buildings and industries. SI provides customers with a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio from a single source – with products, systems, solutions and services from the point of power generation all the way to consumption. With an increasingly digitalized ecosystem, it helps customers thrive and communities progress while contributing toward protecting the planet. SI creates environments that care. With around 71,000 employees worldwide, Siemens Smart Infrastructure has its global headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, and its U.S. corporate headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, USA.

Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a global powerhouse focusing on the areas of power generation and distribution, intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems, and automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries. Through the separately managed company Siemens Mobility, a leading supplier of smart mobility solutions for rail and road transport, Siemens is shaping the world market for passenger and freight services. Due to its majority stakes in the publicly listed companies Siemens Healthineers AG and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Siemens is also a world-leading supplier of medical technology and digital healthcare services as well as environmentally friendly solutions for onshore and offshore wind power generation. For more than 160 years, the company has innovated and invented technologies to support American industry spanning manufacturing, energy, healthcare and infrastructure. In fiscal 2018, Siemens USA reported revenue of $23.7 billion, including $5.0 billion in exports, and employs approximately 50,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico.