Ebbw Vale’s TLZ is part of a larger £350 million regeneration project called The Works. The development, on a former steelworks, was launched by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and the Welsh Assembly to provide new education facilities, a leisure centre, low carbon housing, offices and an arts centre.
Set for completion in September 2012, the Learning Zone is a post-16 education facility that will be governed by Coleg Gwent. It is a partnership project between Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Welsh Government, University of Wales Newport and UHOVI.
The four-storey building, being constructed by main contractor Leadbitter (www.leadbitter.co.uk), will provide educational opportunities in a number of key curriculum areas including healthcare, science and technology, engineering, teacher education and IT.
The campus was designed by multi-discipline Bristol practice Building Design Partnership (www.bdp.com). WindowMaster worked closely with M&E and architectural specialists at BDP to pull together all the elements of the function and form of the design for the natural ventilation system. The solution uses 801 window actuators mounted in windows supplied by sister company Velfac (www.velfac.co.uk) and will control the indoor climate in 157 zones.
WindowMaster regional manager Carl Sutterby said: “The project required huge levels of input from WindowMaster working in collaboration with BDP, Velfac, main contractor Leadbitter and the M&E contractor. This was a masterclass in team work and coordination, to ensure that the end result 'worked'.
“This project was a great demonstration of all parties pulling in the same direction to enable the client to end up with a fluid set of controls that, although very complex to engineer and implement, were straightforward for the client to understand and use.”
WindowMaster, Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions, was chosen to provide the window automation system for The Learning Zone because of its ability to provide a complete installation, in particular the central computer control system. The installation includes window actuators, various sensors and a weather station.
The weather station monitors external conditions around the building, including wind direction and speed, temperature and rain fall. Changes in wind pressure on the facades are also modelled. These parameters are programmed into the computer control system where they are analysed along with readings taken from the weather station and sensors fitted internally.
Windows around the building are then precisely controlled and positioned to keep air quality within rooms fresh and the temperature constant.
WindowMaster’s NV Advance™ window automation system is the only system in Europe that intelligently monitors windows to prevent entrapment as an integrated function of the motor and control system. It can provide almost failsafe security against the possibility of injury while windows are closing.
If an object, or hands or fingers, becomes trapped in a window and prevents it from closing the amount of current drawn by the motor instantly increases. This is detected by the microprocessor which immediately reverses the motor to release the window, therefore preventing the possibility of serious injury.
The system can be retrofitted on many existing windows as well as being installed on new buildings. It can operate on a broad range of window types, including top and bottom opening, sliding and parallel opening. The system can also be used on windows for heat and smoke ventilation.
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