About
About Siena
We are a Specialist Engineering Consultancy established with a vision to actively promote the growth of fire and life safety engineering industry in the MENA region and contribute in raising its awareness and dynamic development across the continents.
We are continuously striving to deliver satisfactory achievements in this fascinating field with our global team of experts, consultants, engineers and architects who are fully committed to play an effective role in keeping this world a better place by maintaining the safety equation.
Our mission is to contribute energy and ideas to crucial areas of fire and life safety by being as creative and flexible as we can.
Our vision is to exceed client’s expectations by delivering coherent strategies and developing innovative solutions where every aspect of the safety equation is considered and implemented correctly while preserving the client vision and the design intent of the project.
Our focus is on handling the fire protection and life safety strategy design and assessment for all type of projects, proposals, research studies, Authorities approvals for new and existing buildings and structures in a proactive and pioneering way.
Brand Identity
“Siena” is a specialist engineering consultancy established with a vision to actively promote the growth of fire and life safety engineering industry in the MENA region and contribute in raising its awareness and dynamic development across the continent by providing a reliable strategies and tailored solutions that insure an infinity of consistent safety to life and properties from fire or any similar danger.
The name Siena refers to the “burnt shade of red color”, it means “orange-red”. Which is also attributed to the color of fire.
The origin of the name is derived from a historical Italian city in Tuscany region, which refers to the color of its clay rooftops.
In Latin, the name Siena is interpreted to mean “wise”.
The letter “S”, is one of the most powerful letters of English alphabet. It is strongly associated with power, honor and righteous.Some of the key characteristics of the letter “S” are “ambition, leadership and professionalism” which we always aim to achieve in “Siena” while dealing with our esteemed clients through our determination and decisiveness to provide a successful outcome for every project we handle.
Leading Team
Sawsan Dahham
CEO
Bill Koffel
Executive Consultant
Our Specialists
“In Siena we believe that a company is only as good as the people in it. We value each and every employee as they are our greatest asset”
Sawsan Dahham, Siena CEO
International JV
Siena has an international JV agreement with Koffel Associates, an independent fire protection engineering and code consulting firm established in Maryland in 1986, specializing in a broad range of fire protection engineering design and code consulting services, to public and private clients worldwide.
Their fire protection engineering design and consulting expertise results from years of experience and the extensive number of NFPA and ICC Technical Committee positions either currently or recently held by their engineers. Several of their engineers previously served as code officials and fire protection engineers for regulatory agencies, including the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, and currently serve as certified instructors for the National Fire Protection Association, worldwide. Their thorough knowledge of the building, life safety, and fire codes and standards, along with their ability to incorporate the rationale of these codes and standards, are essential to their clients.
Koffel Associates provides design and consulting services for new, expansion, and renovation construction projects in the public and private sector.
Their services include:
- Building, life safety and fire code consulting, including performance-based building design and evaluation, and fire modeling.
- Building, life safety, and fire code reviews for new construction and renovation projects
- Surveys and evaluations of existing buildings to ensure compliance with industry best standards and applicable building and fire codes.
- Code compliance plans and reports preparation
- Code equivalencies or waivers preparation
- Negotiations with code officials
- Fire protection system analysis and design, including fire alarm and detection, mass notification, automatic sprinkler and standpipe, water supply, fire pump, and clean agent.
- Fire protection water supply testing and evaluation
- Fire protection system third party design review and approval
- Existing fire protection systems analysis and evaluation
- Smoke control system evaluation and design, including atrium, zoned, and stair pressurization systems.
- Construction Administration services including shop drawing review and approval, site surveys and punch list development, commissioning, testing and acceptance, and third-party surveys.
- Development and presentation of fire protection and life safety course material
- Nationally recognized as experts for our knowledge of all aspects of fire protection related codes and standards, and all aspects of fire protection engineering design and code consulting, the following projects represent an overview of our health care design and consulting experience with the University of Maryland.
Project Examples
Hamad Medical Corporation, Multiple Locations, Qatar
Provided various fire protection and code consulting services for the Hamad Medical Corporation.
The work was performed both on-site and remote.
Services included:
- Fire Warden Training
- Bone and Joint Center Life Safety Survey and Assessment
- Operating Theatre Annex Life Safety Survey and Assessment
- Fire Safety Evaluation
- On-site Code Consulting Services
Al-Midhra Tower Fire Protection Certification, Saudi Arabia
Provided third party plan reviews of the fire protection plans for the Al-Midhra Tower in Saudi Arabia. The documents reviewed included layout drawings, riser diagrams, hydraulic calculations, construction specifications, and cause and effect matrix related to the fire protection and fire alarm and detection systems, as provided by Jacobs ZATE. Our review was based on the latest Saudi Aramco Engineering Standards including SAES-B 014, SAES-B-017, SAES-B-019, SAES-S-050, and SAES-M-100, Aramco Engineering Drawings, Specifications, NFPA Codes and Standards including NFPA 13, NFPA 70, and NFPA 72, and the International Building Code as applicable to the project. The work was to enhance the fire protection systems in the Platinum LEED certified building elevator shafts and communication rooms.
The building was approximately 710,400 sq ft.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Multiple Locations, Saudi Arabia
Provided various fire protection and code consulting services in multiple facilities for Johns Hopkins
Aramco. All work was done in accordance with Saudi Aramco Engineering Standards (including CAD
standards) (SAES) and NFPA requirements. Projects included:
- Fire Suppression and Fire Alarm Design and Upgrade for a 956,092 sq ft facility, as well as development of life safety plans.
- Plan review and consulting services for the renovations to the 800,000 sq ft, multi-building facility
- Performed preliminary hydraulic calculations to assess if the existing fire pump was required to serve the existing sprinkler system at JHAH Abqaiq Primary Care Center (APCC). Due to recent improvements to the water supply, an increased water pressure was noted during the annual fire pump test. The APCC was approximately 111,900 sq ft.
- Provided Detailed Design and Issued for Construction fire smoke damper drawings for Buildings 60/61, 62 and 1195. As part of the work, all existing FD/SD/FSD were demolished and new dampers were installed to bring the damper design into compliance with SAES-M-100: Saudi Aramco Building Code (SABC), NFPA 101®: Life Safety Code® (LSC), and all applicable reference codes and standards, including Saudi Aramco design standards. Total of approximately 958,000 sq ft in multiple buildings.
- Provided design, consulting, and Construction Administration services to assist the replacement and upgrade of the existing fire system, including sprinklers, standpipe, and fire pumps in Building 60 and 61. Approximate square footage 745,800 sq ft. Assist JHAH with the bidding negotiation and construction administration in accordance with the requirements of SAES-M-100: Saudi Aramco Building Code (SABC), NFPA 101®: Life Safety Code®, and all applicable reference codes and standards.
- Provided sprinkler design and life safety assessment to ensure egress capacity and fire-rated construction were provided for the addition of storage rooms located in JHAH Abqaiq Primary Care Center (APCC).
- Provided fire protection engineering and code consulting services to design a sprinkler system for JHAH Dhahran Health Center (DHC) Building 54 (Dental Clinic). As part of this scope of work, the existing sprinklers and fire pump were demolished and a new sprinkler system was installed to bring the system into compliance with SAES-M-100: Saudi Aramco Building Code (SABC) and all applicable reference codes and standards, including Saudi Aramco design standards. Develop a Detailed Design and Issued for Construction sprinkler packages, as well as an update of the existing life safety plans for Building 54. Building 54 is approximately 6,260 sq m (67,400 sq ft).
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Koffel provided fire alarm, fire protection and life safety code consulting and survey services for the new 1.5 billion Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) facility in the United Arab Emirates.
Constructed on the man-made Al Maryah Island, CCAD encompasses 4.5 million sq ft, stands over 25-stories tall, and includes medical offices, emergency room, surgical and patient care areas as well as utility and material handling tunnels and circulation corridors. It also includes a 3-story parking structure and an 850 foot long atrium. The 48-month project was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification and received a Four Pearl rating from the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council’s Estidama Pearl rating system. As an integral member of the Cleveland Clinic team, we worked closely with the fire protection and security divisions during construction on the safe and reliable fire alarm systems within the facility.
Served as the Fire Protection and Life Safety Consultant during the construction process, managed fire alarm reliability and egress planning. Upon building occupancy, oversaw the staff training process.
Services included:
- Consulted with CCAD management team so design met applicable fire protection and life safety criteria, including NFPA.
- Developed detailed design narratives.
- Developed egress maps.
- Developed staff training materials.
- Reviewed cause and effect matrix for fire alarm system
- Reviewed test documentation for fire protection systems
- Identified gaps in testing of fire protection and life safety systems.
- Prepared qualitative risk assessment based on fire protection system performance.
- Provided on-site construction quality assurance.
One element of our risk assessment was to reduce the nuisance alarm rate.
There are more than 12,000 smoke detectors in the health care occupancy complex and reducing nuisance alarms was critical. The fire alarm system has a positive alarm feature.
Mouwasat Medical Services, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Koffel reviewed and revised the existing Internal Disaster Plans for three of the existing medical facilities, as well as develop building permit fire protection drawings.
Specific scope of services included:
- Review the Disaster Preparedness Plan for Internal Emergencies for four of the Hospitals
(Dammam, Jubail, Qatif, and Riyadh). - Performed a site visit to:
- Discussed the comments and recommendations generated from the review of the Disaster Preparedness Plan.
- Performed a general walk through of the facility to assess the fire protection features of the facility.
- Reviewed existing disaster equipment.
- Prepared fire drill evaluation forms.
- Conducted a training session of department personnel regarding how to develop emergency plans.
- Conducted a training session of department personnel on fire drill procedures.
- Prepared a revised Disaster Preparedness Plan for Internal Emergencies.
- Provide consulting for departments to determine if specific emergency procedures were required.
- Observed and critiqued an annual internal disaster drill at one of the four hospitals.
Principles
“In Siena we always aim to deliver a coherent Strategy and comprehensive Solution wrapped with an infinite of Safety measures, where every aspect of the FLS equation is considered and implemented properly while preserving the client’s vision, respecting the design intent and responding to the AHJ concerns.”
Sawsan Dahham, Siena CEO
Diversity and Inclusion
Women Empowerment
“We are here to celebrate and support every woman who spend her time multitasking to fulfill her ambitions, reach her goals, exceed men expectations and be her family idol.
Sawsan Dahham, Siena CEO
In Siena we appreciate their continuous efforts to face the world with a powerful mind, strong will and a tender heart.”
We Strive Together
“Ambition has no age limit, expiry date or specific conditions.”
In Siena we welcome and support every person committed to his specialty and we help him reach his career goals.
We are continuously striving to create a suitable work environment for growth and prosperity, and provide you with a second home full of motivation, innovation and positivity.