Following the use of extensive analysis and modelling,consulting engineers,Faber Maunsell,have provided a low energy ventilation system to meet exacting design criteria at the new Shetland Museum and Archive.
The new 3000m2 Shetland Museum and Archives,situated alongside the historic Hay’s Dock on the Lerwick waterfront,is the largest museum in Shetland and encompasses all aspects of island life.Ranging from two to four storeys,the new building incorporates permanent and temporary exhibition space, a state-of-the-art archive repository,a life long learning room and a 120 seat lecture theatre,as well as a restaurant and café.
The new facility will be managed by Shetland Amenity Trust,which received a grant of £4.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and an additional £5m of funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust.The lead consultants for the project were Building Design Partnership and Faber Maunsell was appointed to design the building services.
“From a design point of view, the most challenging areas of the project were the galleries and the archive repository,”explains Faber Maunsell’s Richard Mann.“Our brief was to arrive at a low energy,low maintenance solution while meeting strict criteria for environmental control in what is undoubtedly a demanding climate,”he adds.
An important element of the gallery design was that these areas should be as open as possible,so that visitors entering the foyer are immediately engaged by the exhibits.This necessitated a detailed design that would take account of air movement within the space and fluctuations in relative humidity.At the same time,the client required a discrete design that would be visually sympathetic to the exhibitions.
Drawing on its experience at the National Galleries of Scotland Special Reserve Collection Store in Granton,Faber Maunsell carried out extensive modelling and analysis work using CFD(computational fluid dynamics)to determine air volume and supply conditions to maintain museum and archive areas at the required temperature and humidity conditions.In particular,extensive analysis was undertaken to include the low humidity winter scenario and the high humidity summer scenario.
In the high-ceilinged exhibition spaces,the solution proved to be a displacement ventilation system,combined with underfloor heating.In order to maintain visually discrete design,displacement units were specially designed for integration into the columns in the space.
Another concern in the exhibition spaces was exposure of the exhibits to ultra violet light from natural daylight.Faber Maunsell carried out daylight modelling to establish lux levels throughout the year,building a picture of which areas of the galleries would receive most natural daylight.
“On the basis of the daylight modelling, we worked closely with the architects on the fenestration design,introducing blinds at high level,” Richard Mann recalls.“However,there is no shading of the glazed front façade so we also worked with the exhibition designers to ensure particularly sensitive exhibits were placed in areas receiving relatively low levels of natural daylight,” he continues. The archive repository is home to a wide range of sensitive materials,including paper documents,photographs and film.In order for the museum to be able to borrow materials from other collections it was vital that these areas be environmentally controlled to BS 2424.
“We tried to achieve the required conditions for the archives using passive methods but the CFD analysis showed this would not be possible because of the high relative humidity levels experienced in Lerwick during the winter,” explains Richard Mann.“We therefore opted for close control air conditioning,using the thermal mass of the building to smooth out peaks and minimise the requirement for mechanical cooling,” he adds.
Due to open early in 2006,the new Shetland Museum and Archive ensures that the heritage of the Shetland Islands will not be forgotten,while also providing an additional attraction for the increasing numbers of Scandinavian tourists visiting the islands. Thanks to innovative building services design,the building will benefit from significant savings in capital and running costs.
Project details:Client:Shetland Amenity Trust Building services design:Faber Maunsell
Architect: Building Design Partnership
QS:Turner and Townsend
Main contractor:DITT
Structural engineers:Woolgar Hunter
