The chilled beams now arriving at Terminal 5
Trox’s biggest-ever chilled beams for Britain’s biggest project — the rafts of the multi-service chilled beams for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport are 2.5 m wide and 4.5 m long.
Multi Service Chilled Beams (MSCBs) from Trox UK were selected for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport after rigorous analysis of the benefits. The energy-efficient MSCBs will provide the best possible levels of comfort for both passengers and staff in the main arrivals corridors. Active and passive beams are also being integrated into the ceilings in other critical areas. In late 2004, Trox Design Bureau was invited by Terminal 5’s M&E consulting engineers to provide engineering advice on the benefits of incorporating a chilled-beam solution for this terminal. After the initial proposals had been accepted by the client, BAA, Trox was invited to competitively tender a design development and supply package, which was secured early in 2005. The design and development of the MSCB rafts was delivered by the Trox Design Bureau. It was resourced by a dedicated team of designers and project managers, who became an integral part of the BAA design and contracting team based on site. The design process for the MSCB rafts impacted on all other construction disciplines, especially with the BAA architects and interior designers. The MSCB raft was the widest beam Trox had designed and made at 2.5 m wide and 4.5 m long. The modules comprise active chilled beams using a standard derivative of the Trox DID induction engine configured as ‘outriggers’ to the ceiling raft. The internal interface edge of the rafts incorporates a patented edge extrusion under specific licence from the ceiling contractor specified by BAA, enabling ‘tilt-and-lift’ access to the ceiling tiles to be formed as an integral part of the raft. Each raft was installed with lighting and lighting control equipment — together with chilled-water control valves, air-supply ductwork and pipework to enable the modules to be simply ‘plugged’ together on site to form a continuous ceiling raft. Chilled beams were also designed and supplied to other areas within the terminal. All equipment underwent extensive testing in Trox’s specially designed test facilities to ensure that, when fully integrated within the building, their performance was not compromised. ‘The success of this highly complex, fully integrated MSCB project is due to the opportunity taken to become part of the client’s design and development team at the very earliest stage of the project,’ says Graham Burley, strategic accounts manager with Trox UK.
Related links:
