The Brit Oval is bowled over by Sanyo
Now famous as the cricket ground where England won the Ashes this summer, the Brit Oval uses Sanyo VRF air conditioning in the new OCS stand.
The pressures placed on the cricket teams in the final match of the Ashes series at the Oval this summer were reflected in the demands placed on the air-conditioning system for the new £25 million OCS stand. This stylish new structure is a geometrically bold, futuristic curve in white steel that provides spectator terracing, a Press centre, broadcasting suite and corporate-hospitality facilities. It is the work of HOK Sport, a practice that specialises in high-profile stadia. One of the skills the practice has developed over the years is to seamlessly combine sports and corporate facilities in the same development without compromise in either direction. A VRF air-conditioning system using Sanyo equipment was supplied by distributor OceanAir and installed by Hiltons of Nottingham. The range of requirements to be served is diverse. A quietly spoken broadcasting box needs a different level of comfort to a committed 20/20 fan cheering on home team Surrey from a corporate box. In the broadcasting and press areas, highly effective but unobtrusive air conditioning was the order of the day. In the main bar and corporate-hospitality rooms, a high degree of flexibility in the system is needed to balance the widely fluctuating loads and conditions. Hiltons, building-services engineer for the project, recognised that a full heating and cooling solution would best meet all the requirements. Sanyo’s ECOi 2-pipe range of ducted units with grilles and in-ceiling cassettes, served by 28 outdoor units, were installed throughout executive rooms, corporate hospitality facilities and control room. Sanyo’s ECOi 3-pipe system was installed in the Press and broadcast rooms to offer simultaneous heating and cooling. The refrigerant is R410A. THE ECOi system provides close monitoring of the air-off temperature, which was a valuable feature in the design of ductwork for the project. Among installation challenges was the profusion of structural steel beams, which reduced space in the ceiling void. Distributor OceanAir adddressed the problem using the slim profile of Sanyo fan-coil units, which could readily be fitted into the shallow ceiling voids. Some outdoor units had to be installed in the plant room of the OCS stand, which has no windows and which was already packed with equipment. The condensing units for the ECOi condensing system have a small footprint and fans generating high static pressure, so they could be installed with the addition of acoustic sleeves. Time constraints were tight throughout the projects. In particular, the project team commissioned the entire air-conditioning plant in less than four days.
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