Product category:
Ventilation Services
News Release from: Monodraught | Subject: Monodraught Windcatchers
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 January 2008
Windcatcher fresh air for Chelsea
Pensioners
Monodraught Windcatchers selected to provide energy free fresh air throughout the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Founded in 1692, the Royal Hospital Chelsea was built to provide 'succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war' It still serves its original purpose today and intends to continue to fulfill its role well into the 21st Century
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 18 Aug 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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However, to remain fit for purpose, an Appeal was set up in 2004 to raise GBP35 million to rebuild the existing Infirmary (care home) and modernise the Long Wards (sheltered accommodation).
The 125-bed flagship care home will replace the existing 89-bed Infirmary.
Lieutenant Colonel Archie Mackenzie, Head of Projects, said: "Our intention is that this will be one of the finest care homes today".
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Not surprisingly, the brief for a project involving national treasures such as the Chelsea Pensioners was stringent.
Lead architects Steffian Bradley Architects (SBA), which has considerable experience in designing care homes in America, won the contract in an international design competition and is responsible for the interior as well as the overall construction of the new building.
As the Royal Hospital was one of the most prominent care homes in the UK and could potentially be a model for other care homes, SBA felt that sustainability was a primary concern for the project.
The new Infirmary had to be expressly environmentally friendly and have an expected life span of well over 100 years.
This immediately ruled out conventional air conditioning, with its occasionally irritating noise and relatively high running costs.
The original Royal Hospital was basically a naturally ventilated building, so consulting engineers Delap and Waller decided that the new buildings also needed 'energy free ventilation', and that only natural ventilation could meet such rigorous demands.
Monodraught Windcatchers were selected to provide this energy free fresh air throughout the buildings on the prestigious project, a decision that Monodraught managing director Professor Terry Payne hails as a major step forward for the natural ventilation industry.
By harnessing pressure differences caused by wind, and the buoyancy effect created by temperature differences, fresh air is moved through the buildings by the Windcatcher, which are installed at roof level.
Commenting for SBA, a spokesperson says: "We feel the marriage of modern technology and traditional building methods allows this building to sit proudly among the existing Sir Christopher Wren and Sir John Soane buildings on this historic campus".
Natural ventilation draws in fresh air containing a supply of oxygen for respiration; and natural buoyancy expels hot, stale air and its attendant odours.
This ensures a pleasant and much healthier atmosphere.
By maximising the use of wind pressure and the natural stack effect, natural ventilation does not require a conventional energy source.
Besides offering sustainable, year-round natural ventilation the Windcatchers also provide an environmentally friendly alternative for the many energy-hungry air conditioned buildings that are currently responsible for approximately 50 per cent of the UK's energy consumption, and for the release of over 27 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum into the atmosphere.
As organisations become increasingly aware of their environmental responsibility and the need for carbon offset, so architects and specifiers are seeking to ensure that low or minimum energy systems are incorporated into new buildings from the outset and that refurbishment projects are given the same priority.
For the fifteen units being fitted at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Monodraught cleverly adapted the design of its standard Windcatcher systems to replicate the existing chimneys on the Royal Hospital building.
The units were clad in clay pantiles to cover intake louvers, ensuring a perfect blend with the architectural style of the new Infirmary, which in turn mirrors the existing Royal Hospital premises.
Explaining other key Windcatcher benefits, Professor Terry Payne says: "Programmable, motorised volume control dampers ensure optimum efficiency whether doors and windows are open or closed, so whatever the time of year, draught-free, cost-free ventilation is readily available and always maintained".
He adds that, unlike mechanical air conditioning systems, Windcatchers also provide free night time cooling via damper controls that can be programmed to maximise cooler night air while creating a cleaning effect as the downwash of fresh air drives out the day's stale air.
"This ensures that at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the pensioners and others will be able to live and sleep in an environment that feels clean, while it is being refreshed." He says.
Another advantage of natural ventilation is the reduction in noise levels compared to air conditioning systems, which can be noisy and intrusive.
Windcatchers have been tested by the Acoustic Division of the Building Research Establishment, which confirmed their ability to greatly reduce noise transfer.
Summing up for SBA, architect Chris Waltz comments: "The Monodraught system was chosen because it provides natural ventilation to enable the pensioners to be comfortable while the building maintains good indoor air quality". Request a free brochure from Monodraught ...
"The lifecycle cost of the system also made it attractive and it was able to be easily incorporated within the chimney features already present in the original design.".
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