The perfect heritage HVAC solution at St John’s Case Study, Heritage
The chosen system had to meet stringent energy efficient performance and sustainability goals of the St John’s who wanted to ensure that the project met the highest sustainability standards, despite the challenges of a site mixing historic structure and new build elements. MCW Architects, the long term trusted partner of St. John’s College, addressed sustainability issues and offered expertise in balancing historic building refurbishment with the provision of the new facilities. In the event, a BREEAM (the world-leading sustainability assessment method for master planning projects and buildings) Excellent rating was achieved.
The Invisible.AC Small Duct High Velocity (SDHV) system was specified by K J Tait, the Building Services Engineers who were committed to ensuring that the solution would align seamlessly with the overall vision for the project. Having specified Invisible.AC for many heritage projects, K J Tait considered it the perfect fit to overcome specific challenges of the historic setting.
The original building was not originally designed or constructed to accommodate conventional modern ducted heating or AC systems. Using ceiling or wall mounted air conditioners and traditional wall radiators would have been visually obtrusive and compromised the interior design features which blend the contemporary with the traditional, creating bright, warm and welcoming spaces.
The Café, the light and airy Buttery and the Bar have differing HVAC requirements and the design of the HVAC system had to take into account. The energy source is a Swegon Air Handling Unit, with integrated heat pump, which is installed in the roof space. It delivers conditioned air via an Invisible.AC in-floor plenum which links to flexible mini ducting with silencers for noise free operation.
This culminates in flush stainless steel 25mm horizontal floor slots positioned carefully around the edges of the rooms away from busy areas. They are robust, operate with minimum noise levels and are totally unobtrusive, causing minimum impact within the carefully crafted interiors. Through highly effective air mixing, the outlets inconspicuously deliver draught free air jet comfort and fresh air with no air turbulence and minimal temperature variation. Thanks to its flexible design, the installer was able to weave the compact 150 mm diameter mini ducting through tight wall cavities, ceiling spaces to the individual room outlets.
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