The recently opened Ark Academy, Wembley Park on Forty Avenue,
London features innovative, high quality buildings specially
designed to inspire pupils. Forming part of the natural ventilation
strategy, which helps to support calm and ordered learning inside
the inviting and well-equipped classrooms, is a Monodraught
Windcatcher system featuring special acoustic linings that also
makes an important contribution to the Academy’s extremely high
standards of acoustic insulation.
To achieve a workable solution using natural ventilation, consultant
AECOM followed the guidelines set out in the Building Bulletin for
Schools to determine the ventilation rates required for the teaching
spaces to provide fresh air to the occupants and also to limit
overheating during summer months. This was used to determine the
volume of fresh air the roof mounted Monodraught Windcatcher natural
ventilation systems needed to provide for individual teaching
spaces.
AECOM outlined the general concept for the natural ventilation
system and provided the minimum and maximum ventilation rates for
the various spaces. Monodraught then calculated the sizes of the
Windcatchers, which were fitted to rooms on the top floors of the
building, and provided special powertrack controllers to enable the
Windcatchers to operate with the Academy’s BMS.
Due to noise sensitivity within the Academy, the Windcatchers needed
to meet particularly stringent levels of acoustic insulation, and
Monodraught provided a number of additional natural ventilation
solutions for the Academy’s buildings, as AECOM’s William Western
explains: “The Windcatchers were used primarily in spaces where we
couldn’t naturally ventilate using opening windows due to the height
required. “For example, opening windows weren’t a viable solution in
the standard classrooms due to the acoustic requirements needed to
minimise noise on the site.”
Special acoustic measures were specified due to the proximity of the
school to a main road at the north of the site and two main roads to
the east. Fortunately, Monodraught was able to provide a customised
solution within its Windcatchers using very effective acoustic
linings to reduce noise.
Monodraught was also able to provide a solution in areas where
higher ventilation rates were needed due to excessive heat gains –
for example in south facing classrooms. The Windcatcher Sola-boost
natural ventilation option was specified to provide the higher
ventilation rates needed during summer months, when temperatures
increase and higher solar gains occur. Again, the Monodraught
solution proved to be very effective for those spaces.
The Windcatcher Sola-boost systems combine efficient natural
ventilation with an ultra-quiet, high-efficiency solar-driven fan,
which provides true energy-free operation without using carbon
intensive batteries. The Monodraught units are optimised to deliver
maximum power to the fan under full sun conditions, so the brighter
the sun the greater the ventilation rate. Fully automatic controls
within the system regulate the room temperature and internal air
quality, including CO2 levels, whilst maximising energy savings.
And finally, William Western says Monodraught Suncatcher systems
provided an ideal solution for some of the various internal spaces
where opportunities to provide natural daylight and natural
ventilation would be otherwise difficult to achieve.
Windcatcher, Sola-boost and Suncatcher are registered trademarks
owned by Monodraught Limited.
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