Blackheath High School, an independent day school for girls and part of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) network, recently invested £18 million to provide new state of the art facilities including a new library and resource center, and AET Flexible Space supplied an underfloor air conditioning system to provide comfort cooling for students in the new learning zone.
Challenge
The project involved the design and construction of a three-storey new build, aesthetically designed to blend with the existing Victorian structure. The library and resource center is located on the lower ground floor, sunk beneath the existing site and the new courtyard area.
Due to the underground location of the resource center, air conditioning was required for this area, and an underfloor air conditioning system was specified by consultant Hilson Moran so that the ceiling space, featuring the unique pyramidal skylights, could be left exposed.
Solution
Underfloor air conditioning makes use of the plenum beneath a raised access floor to distribute conditioned air. At Blackheath High School, a single CAM-V33 Direct Expansion downflow unit serves the air-conditioned zone, and the conditioned air is supplied into the space by 14 TU4 Fantiles.
The CAM-V receives spent air back for re-conditioning via high-level transfer grilles
The CAM-V receives spent air back for re-conditioning via high-level transfer grilles. A major challenge with this project was the 900mm high underfloor void within the main resource area, requiring special modification to the CAM base frame and raised floor substructure.
The new state-of-the-art facility reached practical completion over the summer of 2018 and was ready for students to use in September at the start of the new school year.
