Anechoic Chamber

The project included the construction of a new 3 Meter EMC Chamber in an existing occupied office building. A partial external building expansion was initially expected in order to install the 35’ long x 24’ wide x 24’ tall chamber, however, after considering both schedule and budget, and after several test fits, it was determined that the best installation location would involve an internal expansion with a partial removal of office space. The designated chamber alcove had 16’ of clearance, requiring the chamber be recessed 8’ below grade and many of the buildings utilities to be relocated including the fire main, water main, HVAC duct main and much of the electrical distribution. An additional 50,000 lbs of steel was installed to support the footings and pit walls during the excavation. Since the building remained fully operational, all tools used during construction had to be either electric or hydraulic, requiring the team to source equipment from across the west coast. The EMC chamber itself had to be fully customized to consider the specific installation hurdles and California seismic code; a completely new design in Solid Works was required to confirm performance and constructibility. Chamber installation required a Material Lift and ADA lift, and several electrical systems specific to the mechanical functionality were also installed, including 208V 3P 60Hz, 230V 50Hz, -48V DC & High Voltage DC. To support the chamber, several other areas were created including a Control Room, Immunity Room, Bring Up Area, Storage Area & Benching Area. Several pieces of equipment required onsite UL certification to ensure the project was fully certified and compliant with all codes.