A12+% growth in population over the past decade has meant Edinburgh City Council is undertaking a £multi-million Learning Estate Investment Programme. It includes building at least three new primary schools and a new senior school, all designed to contribute towards the Authority’s aim of being carbon neutral by 2030.
To help realise the ambition, consulting engineers Blackwood Partnership utilised Gilberts’ grilles and diffusers to provide effective, compliant ventilation throughout the buildings- from nursery and primary school classrooms through corridors to tutorial spaces, offices and sport halls.
Careful design of the ventilation air paths and selection of the components ensures the indoor air quality throughout the schools is maintained whilst minimising energy with heating provided by air source heat pumps.
Each classroom features a combination of GSFB perforated circular swirl diffusers and
PG-R perforated return grilles to supply and return the air to the HEVAC system. This combination of grilles and diffusers, with perforated faces, optimises air circulation without draughts whilst achieving enhanced airflow efficiency.
In the smaller cellular spaces air is transferred through the corridors via strategically-positioned NV2 transfer grilles above doors – heavy duty where required. GE eggcrate grilles, with their 90% free ventilation area, optimise velocity of extraction with low noise levels through the ceiling within the Sports and Dining Halls.
Explained Fraser Sinclair, senior mechanical engineer for Blackwoods, “The overall layout in each of the schools was for a mixture of suspended and plasterboarded ceilings. some of which were awkward configurations in terms of implementation of a compliant ventilation strategy.
“We knew from our long-term, successful relationship with Gilberts that we could rely on all the technical support needed in the selection of the most efficient and cost-effective combination of supply and extract solutions.”
Added Crawford McGhie, Senior Manager Estates and Operational Support, ‘Our new school spaces should provide the best conditions for learning and teaching with lighting, heating, ventilation and acoustics optimised to provide a comfortable environment supporting positive outcomes for building users.”
The new schools build on Gilberts’ proven track record in air movement in the region. Gilberts has also provided grille and diffusers for, among others, the first Virgin hotel in the UK, and Gleneagles’ first urban hotel, both in Edinburgh, and the new Glasgow Rangers Museum.
Founded some six decades ago, today family-owned Gilberts’ 140,000 sq ft head office and manufacturing facility includes its own research and development and test facilities, enabling it to continue to evolve its product range and develop bespoke solutions for specific client requirements. Gilberts is now acknowledged as the UK’s leading independent air movement specialist, offering mechanical, natural and hybrid ventilation solutions.