SE Controls provides ventilation solutions for apartment development
A combined smoke- and natural-ventilation system from SE Controls is providing safety and comfort for a major residential development by Linden Homes in Hammersmith, London. There are 81 apartments from ground to sixth-floor penthouse level, together with a communal roof-top terrace, private gardens and secure parking.
To provide a safe means for escape for residents in the event of a fire and to enable fire fighters to enter the building, SE developed a system to remove smoke from corridors and stairwells using a mix of natural air buoyancy and fan extraction through smoke shafts.
On the lower five floors, smoke ventilation is provided by extract fans in the building’s cycle store, with replacement air supplied through ground floor and air inlet shaft. The sixth floor is vented by a 1.5 m2 vent in the top-floor corridor and stairs by a similar arrangement at the head of the stair.
Mechanically assisted ventilation helps maintain comfortable temperatures in the corridors to offset heat from heating and DHW pipes feeding each apartment via the corridors.
On the first five floors, fans running at half speed remove warm air from the corridors, and smoke dampers are opened as required by the natural-ventilation control panel.
On the sixth floor, a dedicated tamperproof thermostat controls the lobby vent, while hooded vents allow ventilation during inclement weather.
This specially developed system involves the use of nine OS2 controllers and tamperproof manual control points, as well as a range of temperature sensors and smoke sensors, all linked to the main control panel with a failsafe battery backup.
