A combination of splits and VRF air conditioning units from the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) KX4 range has been selected by Arup consulting engineers for Leicester’s spectacular new £61 million theatre, opened in November 2008.
The new building, which is equipped with the latest in theatre technology, includes two auditoria with a total of 1,200 seats. As well as providing a venue for theatre and music, the Curve will house a production workshop space, a dance studio, audio visual studio and three rehearsal rooms.
Specialist contractor Temperature Control Ltd installed six MHI KX4 VRF outdoor units ranging in capacity from 14kW to 80kW, connected to 38 wall and cassette type indoor units, with a total system cooling capacity of 200kW, serving dressing rooms, box office, theatre shop, audio-visual and sound studios, lighting and rigging areas. In addition, MHI split systems were installed in the building’s transformer room.
MHI’s advanced BGW BACnet gateway provides the interface for control and monitoring for the complete installation linked to the Curve’s building management system (BMS).
MHI’s Sales Manager, David Lettis, says: “The new theatre is a complex building, with several very different zones, and the wide choice of outdoor unit sizes and indoor unit types in Mitsubishi Heavy’s KX4 range gave the designers and installers a great deal of flexibility. All units are compact and designed to allow long pipe runs and maximum pipe routing flexibility. In a large building like this, successful interface with the BMS is critical in managing energy demand efficiently. Our advanced BGW and LGW controllers can link with either BACnet or LONworks management systems to give the best possible result for the building managers and users.”