Photo: ifes GmbH
Aston Martin – Gaydon-Warwick
The elegant modern pavilion, designed by the architects Weedon Partnership in collaboration with Austrian pre-fabrication specialists Holzbau Saurer, has been built using the latest wood construction technology and is a showcase for environmentally sustainable design. The architecture is modern and uncompromising, making extensive use of structural wood and large expanses of glass. The modular wooden structure has been sourced from managed forests in Austria and Switzerland.
The studio has taken just six months to build and only twelve months to complete from its design conception to its realisation. To achieve a high level of room comfort in the new designer working areas, a low energy air-conditioning system was designed and implemented by ifes in cooperation with energy engineers. This system, provides gravity cooling, saving a maximum of electrical energy without the use of mechanical ventilation and allowing precise control of room-temperature. Geothermal energy is used as a renewable energy source for the cooling system. The gravity cooling system works like an air displacement system. The hot air at the ceiling of the rooms will be cooled down by a series of cooling coils installed on top of an aerodynamic designed channel.
In accordance with the ideal gas law, as a volume of hot air cools its density increases. Thus, the same volume of cool air is heavier. Through the force of the earth’s gravitation, the cool air flows through the decline of the channels, entering the room at low level.
The air circulation within the rooms can be precisely controlled by regulating the temperature of the cooling coils. The necessary amount of fresh air is drawn into the channel of the gravity cooling system to provide acceptable recirculated air quality.
The running costs of the sustainable energy system for heating and cooling is up to 70 % lower than a comparable standard air-conditioning system.
The gravity cooling system does not depend on an electrically powered mechanical ventilation system. To protect the modelling area from wide variations in room temperature, the prescribed temperature range in the working area given by the architect and users is to be 23°C +/- 2°C. Furthermore, the air-conditioning and ventilating of the rooms is to be draught-free as well as free of unpleasant noise. To comply with desired temperature and air flow velocity, a thermal and air flow simulation was carried out for the summer case.The results of these simulations validate the design and its goal to achieve a maximum of design quality.
