The Grove Cedar Suite Case Study, Hotel
Over the last six years the all-in-one Invisible.AC system for has given the Cedar Suite the perfect indoor climate for guests and delegates at weddings, banquets and conferences. It has met all the hotel’s aesthetic, indoor climate control and energy efficiency performance requirements. When specifying the system, Ralph Trustees took advice from lead M&E Design Consultants Anderson Green and Martin Evans of Building Consultants, Malthouse Consultancy with its experience in hotel heating and air conditioning project management and Invisible.AC technology.
The system blends perfectly with the Cedar Suite’s stunning indoor environment, created by award winning designer Martin Hulbert, and featuring floor- to-ceiling windows with streams of natural daylight. The installation includes three 25kW Invisible.AC vertically mounted water coil systems with low temperature hot water, heating and chilled water cooling coils. Two of the air handlers are used to feed conditioned air to the highly discreet 25mm wide and 450mm long linear grille and slotted outlets, carefully positioned around the inner coffered ceiling of the suite. The third air handler supplies forced air to 66mm round ceiling outlets around the periphery of the room and is directed down full length feature glass panels. Tempered fresh air is also supplied into the room via the same grilles and outlets. Constant draught free even temperatures are ensured with no hot/cold spots to detract from comfort levels.
Robert Kenworthy, Ralph Trustees’ Group Facilities Director, was delighted with the installation: “The system has really proved its value by ensuring a perfect room temperature at all our Cedar Suite functions. In terms of serviceability, no high levels of maintenance are required and any work required is done from the plant room. It is, however, not just about high performance and the Invisible.AC system is a designer’s dream – visually discreet, very quiet and unnoticeable – the perfect complement to Martin Hulbert’s vision.”
As with the Cedar Suite, the proven energy efficiency of Invisible.AC was key to its selection for the mansion bedroom suites’ refurbishment. It is linked to the hotel’s chiller/ boiler plant and BMS system. Individual room controllers provide responsive, instant personal temperature adjustments.
Just as importantly, the “invisibility” of the system meant that it would to blend seamlessly with the individual interior designs of each bedroom suite where the fittings, furnishings and services contribute to the ultimate luxury experience. Continuous Invisible.AC linear grilles, through which cooled or heated air is injected at high velocity into the rooms, are positioned on the edge of the ceilings and are scarcely noticeable. In some of the rooms they have been cleverly custom designed and integrated within the coving so that they almost disappear from sight.
Comfort and tranquility are prerequisites for guests and with its virtually silent operation – as low as NR20 – Invisible.AC was the perfect choice. This has been achieved through a number of design features including that of the Invisible.AC modular hotel fan coils for each room which feature twin fans operating at low speed for quietness. Noise levels are further reduced by the sound attenuating design of the flexible ducts which connect the fan coils through wall cavities and ceiling spaces to the low turbulence room outlets.
The flexibility of the space saving ducting was perfect for this type of heritage building renovation where the original mansion’s structure is a labyrinth of corridors, stairwells, nooks and crannies. This had to be taken into consideration in the design of the air delivery systems. It also led to the customised four-module design of the kW 400 x 300 and 500 x 300 mm jet fan coils. These have been cleverly positioned in a vertical or horizontal orientation within convenient wall and ceiling voids or cupboards adjacent to each bedroom suite.
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