SE Controls helps provide the perfect environment at Audi Leicester

Sytner Group’s state of the art Audi dealership in Leicester is using advanced natural ventilation technology from SE Controls to ensure that a comfortable environment is maintained for its customers and staff.

Constructed to Audi’s ‘Terminal Concept’ dealership template, originally designed by Allmann, Sattler, Wappner Architekten GmbH, the extensive new showroom and workshop complex replaces Sytner’s previously facility, which it had occupied since 2007.

As part of the energy efficient design, the dealership uses natural ventilation to ensure the carbon dioxide levels and temperature are managed effectively within the entire building to create a comfortable environment for staff and customers within the large open plan showroom as well as for its technicians in the pristine workshops.

SE Controls supplied, installed and commissioned the complete natural ventilation system, which involved the supply of two SCCO Schuco 500mm stroke chain actuators and a precision OS2 controller to provide automatic operation of the sloping vents in the showroom atrium. Manual operation of the vents also formed part of the showroom system, operated by tamper-proof key operated switches.

Audi Leicester’s workshop area is split into six separate areas, each with its own localised ventilation, control and manual over-ride system. To actuate the Schuco AWS 55 vertical vents, SE Controls installed 18 of its new 24 Volt SECO 24 40 N chain actuators together with six OS2 controllers and key operated switches to give accurate and flexible control over the system.

SE Control’s Project Manager, Darren Wainwright, explained: “The strength of the natural ventilation solution at Audi Leicester is its simplicity, versatility and effectiveness. By using well designed vents in the showroom and workshops, coupled with our energy efficient actuators and OS2 controllers, the overall system not only provides effective ventilation and temperature control, but also allows a high degree of flexibility in its operation, particularly in the workshops.”

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling +44 (0) 1543 443060.

Honorary Graduate receives SE Controls award at winter ceremony

Loughborough University student Tom Davis is the latest recipient to be awarded the ‘SE Controls’ prize for best overall performance on the MSc course in low carbon building design and modelling.

The course, which is accredited by CIBSE and The Energy Institute, covers concept design, renewable energy technologies and energy consumption as well as advanced thermal, airflow and lighting modelling, to ensure students have a complete understanding of the principles and practice of low carbon design.

SE Controls originally created the prize as part of the company’s highly productive relationship with Loughborough’s School of Civil and Building Engineering. The School is one of the largest multi-disciplinary engineering faculties in the UK. It aims to develop and nurture the skills required to face the challenges of an increasingly complex built environment. Its world-class teaching and research are integrated to support the technical and commercial needs of both industry and society.

On presenting the award, Will Perkins of SE Controls commented “The school’s graduates are extremely sought after by industry and commerce, and its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are consistently ranked as excellent in both student surveys and independent assessments”.

Prior to completing the MSc, 25-year-old Tom graduated Nottingham Trent University with a 2:1 in Building Surveying. Tom is currently employed as an Energy & Sustainability Consultant and aims to work towards CIBSE chartered status in a building services design consultancy.  

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling +44 (0) 1543 443060.

SE Controls ventilation technologies improves safety and saves energy at HMP Oakwood

The £150 million HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire is using advanced smoke and natural ventilation solutions from SE Controls to not only improve safety in the event of a fire, but also save energy at the prison, which has achieved a BREEAM excellent rating.

Located on a 50 acre site adjacent to the existing Featherstone Prison near Wolverhampton, HMP Oakwood was designed by architects Pick Everard and comprises of 17 buildings including a healthcare unit, first night unit and training centre alongside three ‘star’ shaped secure accommodation blocks, each providing 480 places.

Designed and developed by WSP Group with additional specialised input from SE Controls, the combined smoke and natural ventilation system was tailored to meet the specific criteria and configurations of the individual buildings to ensure they not only complied with the relevant natural ventilation standards, but also met strict smoke ventilation performance specifications.

In addition, all of the components, systems and solutions provided by SE Controls were fully CE certified and complied with the relevant European standards including EN12101 and BS9999.

The complexity of the smoke and natural ventilation system varied depending on the size and nature of the seven individual buildings, ranging from a relatively straightforward installation within the healthcare block, to the complex multi-zoned solution used in the each of the main accommodation blocks, which would need to allow the safe evacuation of more than 500 people in the event of a fire.

Each four-storey accommodation block is designed with five ‘arms’ radiating from a centre access core, with four of the five providing accommodation and the last one dedicated to housing services to the building.

In natural ventilation mode, AOVs and roof actuators open to allow stale hot air to escape, with fresh air being drawn in through automatic glazed vents at the gable end of each prisoner wing, which operate as two separate zones serving the lower two and upper two floors. Air intake is also provided through additional glazed vents in the curtain wall screens on the centre core between the wings.

When smoke ventilation is required, the system provides both natural and mechanical smoke ventilation to ensure the smoke can be vented quickly and effectively to keep corridors and communal areas clear to aid evacuation. In the event of a fire, natural smoke ventilation is provided by the core’s glazed vents with the addition of ducted dampers, while mechanical smoke extraction is handled by high level louvres together with duty and standby fan sets located at the end of each accommodation wing.

To enable the natural and smoke ventilation systems to monitor the air quality and operate effectively, SE Controls supplied and installed a 32 zone BMS and fire alarm interface panel for each accommodation block together with all necessary actuators, vents and over-ride switches as well as smoke extract fan starter systems and pressure monitoring.

SE Controls’ Commercial Director, Martin Oates, explained: “We have undertaken a number of smoke and natural ventilation projects within the prison sector and they each have their own specific demands. The distinctive design of the accommodation blocks at HMP Oakwood not only provide a secure custodial solution, but also enabled us to create a highly effective natural ventilation systems that improves safety and evacuation in the event of a fire.”

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling +44 (0)1543 443060.