CASE STUDY | THE STORM ROLLERCOASTER Riding high An effective air condition system was essential to making the Storm indoor rollercoaster viable in Dubais desert environment. Andy Pearson explains how Cundall minimised cooling loads by creating a temperature gradient using a tower of air handling units D ubai has so many retail malls that anchor attractions have become an essential accessory in competing for the attention of the shopping public. The Mall of the Emirates, for example, has an indoor ski slope, while an aquarium and indoor ice rink can be found in the Dubai Mall. Now, the Dubai Hills Mall has opened, and its novel attraction is a spectacular indoor rollercoaster. Looping a rollercoaster through a building in the heat of the Arabian Desert meant maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature was fundamental to the success of the project. Indoor rollercoasters of this magnitude and speed are very rare, so there were no defined environmental design criteria. Fundamentally, our approach had to be about the user experience, says Richard Stratton, partner and managing director Cundall MENA, the lead design consultant, with responsibility for MEP, architecture, structure and lighting. Called The Storm, the rollercoaster features a 670m long track, coiled to fit inside a cylindrical building measuring 44.5m in diameter and 62m high. Designed by rollercoaster specialist Intamin, the ride lasts one minute 20 seconds. It starts with a thrilling vertical launch; in just five seconds, a linear synchronous motor propels a 12-person car from below ground to the top of the ride, 50m up. From here, gravity pulls the car earthwards, round a twisting, turning track and back to a ground-level station. The circular building that houses the rollercoaster is supported on a diagrid of tubular steel, a rigid structural exoskeleton. Impressively, Cundalls engineers have designed the structure to support both the building and the rollercoaster track, The AHU stack has a staircase and lift so maintenance teams can access the upper track 48 October 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Oct 22 pp50-52, 54 Storm Rollercoaster Supp.indd 48 26/09/2022 15:16