The Crystal, a Sustainable Cities Initiative by Siemens, located in London’s Royal Victoria Dock, is the first building in the UK to use Rehau’s chilled ceiling system.
Two 30sq m conference rooms in London’s newest landmark, which also houses the world’s largest exhibition on the future of sustainable cities, have been fitted with Rehau’s new high performance chilled ceiling panels to provide efficient and effective localised cooling.
The chilled beams used elsewhere in the building could not be used for the conference rooms where suspended ceilings were required so the consultants looked for an alternative solution which offered comparable levels of efficiency. As a result the new high performance chilled ceiling solution was chosen which comprises standard gypsum plasterboard panels with grooves milled into them to accommodate loops of pre-integrated 10mm RAUTHERM S PE-Xa pipework.
The panels are pre-assembled with the pipe in loops 45mm apart and come complete with an extensive range of fittings to secure the boards to the suspended ceiling hardware. The pipe tails are simply connected into a manifold system to the supply of chilled water using Rehau’s renowned EVERLOC compression sleeve fittings which guarantees no leaks.
High performance
With a cooling capacity of up to 75.5 W/sq m, the high performance chilled ceiling panels offer a combination of high output and energy efficiency. At the Crystal, they are linked to the supply of chilled water generated by a reversible ground source heat pump with chiller unit attached and operate in line with the BREAAM Outstanding assessment which the building has achieved.
The chilled ceiling system was installed by M&E contractors Lorne Stewart and installation proved to be quick and easy thanks to the pre-assembled ceiling element and the predrilled fixing grid. There are also four board sizes available in the system which means it is simple to configure the system to fit the required ceiling space.
Tony Harbour who along with Graham Richardson was responsible for the design of the project within Rehau, said: “Our chilled ceiling system, which is available in standard, high performance and acoustic versions, has already been specified extensively in mainland Europe but this is the first installation in the UK. The fact that it is in a building which has been recognised as a benchmark in sustainable design and construction excellence is particularly pleasing.”
The Crystal is claimed to be one of the world’s greenest buildings. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, it serves as a conference centre, global hub for thought leadership in city technology and innovation centre all in one.