Duct Products supplies AHUs for Giant’s Causeway visitor centre
Duct Products, part of the Elta Group, has supplied three bespoke air-handling units to provide conditioned air for the recently opened visitor centre at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. The units were built by Barkell, for which Duct Products has been the local agent since 2000. This 1800 m2 visitor centre was designed by architects Heneghan Peng of Dublin and was the winning result of an international competition. It cost £18.5 million and has a BREEAM Excellent rating.
There are two AHUs with a duty of 3.6 m3/s, one for the exhibition area and one for the retail and cafe areas; there is also an intake plenum with a duty of 7.2 m3/s for these areas. The third AHU has a duty of 1.4 m3/s and serves the kitchen area.
Planning restrictions prevented the use of boilers and chillers, so heating and cooling coils in these AHUs are designed to operate with services from the ground-source heat-pump system and the earth-pipe ground-coupled heat exchanger. The location of the fresh-air intake and limited space in the plant room required detailed co-ordination to provide flexibility for the installation and associated services.
M&E design consultant Bennett Robertson of Belfast specified the Barkell units from Duct Products, having had previous experience with them on earlier projects where planning restrictions were a consideration — as had contractor Vaughan Engineering.
