We were contacted by the custodians of Great Barton Village Hall to recommend and install a ventilation system in the main hall for improving air quality whilst the hall is in use.
The basic function of the ventilation scheme is to provide an adequate fresh air supply for the physical needs of the occupants, not specifically to provide summer cooling although it may assist in doing so. It was also important in our view and when making our recommendations that the solution provided for the extraction of an equal quantity of stale air to balance and maintain air quality.
Our brief was to devise a system that will give the required performance while being unobtrusive, concealed within the void above the ceiling if possible and without external equipment which could potentially be subject to vandalism or occupying possible development space. The system also had to be quiet and economical to install and run.
Based on a occupancy of 150 people, the system needed to supply 8 litres of fresh air per second, with an additional 2 Daikin wall mounted units to provide over 7kw of cooling whilst working independently from the ventilation system itself.
The heart of the system are four ventilation units installed in the ceiling void as requested, evenly spaced down the centre of the main hall. The units are connected to eight diffusers evenly spread across the ceiling itself with eight ceiling extraction grilles positioned down the sides of the hall.
Operated via remote controls, the ventilation units installed are heat recovery units fitted with bypass dampeners to ensure the balance of temperature is maintained with the introduction of external fresh air, whilst taking advantage of ‘free’ cooling when outside conditions permit, making them more cost effective to run.
To help the ventilation system to become more efficient during the summer months, our installation included two Daikin FAQ71 wall mounted units for additional cooling when required.
The project provided some minor challenges in fitting the ventilation units into a very tight roof space in the hot July temperatures! Despite that additional building work was needed to achieve this roof installation, our team delivered the project, which met and exceeds the requirements of the hall, all around the existing venue bookings and within a tight budget.
The client was very happy with our quality of work and how we managed to work around the schedule of the hall:
“We appreciate the hard work that Thermalair has put in to the work and the dedication shown throughout the project.
When planning projects such as this it is our policy to seek competitive tendering but as Thermalair had provided an exceptional service to us and honoured the original price quoted, I managed to convince the trustees and grant funders that competitive tendering was not relevant in this case. I hope this demonstrates our faith and commitment to Thermalair.”