Gilberts delivers bespoke natural ventilation
A comfortable environment in a new £44 million school campus will be provided by an innovative ventilation strategy delivered by Gilberts of Blackpool. Inverclyde Council’s Port Glasgow Community Campus has an area of around 1700 m2 and combines two 3-storey high schools and a single-storey school for additional support needs on the one site. The project is expected to achieve a ‘Very good’ BREEAM rating, largely due to the use of natural ventilation provided in a turnkey package by Gilberts.
Fresh air is drawn into the building by strategically positioned glazed-in louvres with high-efficiency insulated dampers at low level. The air is tempered to avoid cold draughts.
Some teaching areas have glazed-in louvres at high level to vent used air. In other spaces, used air is drawn through a stack system.
The double-volume games halls and assembly halls are vented via penthouse turrets up to 5.2 x 1.4 x 0.9 m in size.
The natural ventilation is linked to a BMS that monitors internal temperature and air quality, modulating airflow accordingly.
John Cameron, project manager for M&E consultant Vaughan Group, explains, ‘The ventilation strategy is hybrid in that some rooms were fully mechanically ventilated (e.g. ICT suites) and some fan assisted.
‘For the natural ventilation, Gilberts were able to give us a full turnkey package that met the preference of Inverclyde Council for natural ventilation as far as possible. It helped that Gilberts’ louvres are shallower than most on the market — just 200 mm — reducing boxing out internally, and thus build costs, and enhancing the overall building aesthetics.’
