Dorma Plantroom

Case Studies

Background

The retail unit was going to be converted into a convenience store. The building is located in a conservation area and was listed and therefore, opening for ventilation into the plant room were not allowed.

We had to facilitate a new concept in design terms for the internal plant room in order to provide sufficient airflow rates, whilst complying with the requirements of the local authority in relation to plant noise impact.

The plant was going to be either standard refrigeration condenser units or state of the art CO2 units.

Solutions

Working in conjunction with the clients Planners, Architects and M&E engineers, we provided a solution via the creation of two Dorma sets at low level in the pitch of the roof ensuring these were not visible from the nearest effected residential property.

Due to the restrictions of the Dormas, a labyrinth of internal plenums were created internally to ensure all items of plant (being air-conditioning and refrigeration) were separately acoustically treated. The maximum height of each Dorma was nominally 1000mm.

In addition, these Dormas also provided the termination point for all other HVAC ductwork services, which we also designed and installed.

Due to serious access issues and restrictions, all acoustic material fans, dampers, attenuators and louvres were installed internally as no external access was available once these Dorma frames were erected.

We managed our clients engineering expectations to ensure minimal impact was achieved and permission was granted to the bespoke solution we provided.