Bespoke ventilation solution developed to replicate tropical rainforest

Gilbert’s of Blackpool has developed a bespoke ventilation solution for Chester Zoo’s new £40 million Islands project.

At the heart of Europe’s biggest ever zoo is an indoor 31,050m³ Monsoon Forest. The exhibit is home to a tropical rainforest and animals including Sulawesi crested macaques, Sunda graham crocodiles and several exotic bird species.

A key requirement of the forest’s development was a ventilation solution that would enable visitors, vegetation and most importantly animals to be immersed in habitats as close to nature as possible.

After being contacted by Crown House Technologies, a subsidiary of main contractors Laing O’Rourke, air movement specialists Gilberts engineered a system to ventilate the exhibit interior.

Ventilation solution

Gilberts has engineered a system whereby 400mm dia aluminium jet nozzle diffusers have been mounted in galvanised plenum boxes and connected to underfloor BMS ductwork.

Each of the aluminium jet nozzles can be independently angled to direct the air upwards towards the roof, which is itself high enough to allow a free-flight aviary.

The company designed and tested the system before manufacturing it at its in-house facility in Blackpool.

Gilberts’ Technical Director Roy Jones commented: “Islands was a bit different to our normal commission: we needed to balance some means of creating adequate artificial air movement in a huge area, in a way that mimicked a tropical rainforest, to suit the range of species living there, by forcing air towards ‘cool zones’ up in the trees and would withstand their investigation!

Phil Ashton, Crown House Technologies Project Manager, added: “Islands has been a very complex project, integrating 25 buildings on a 1.5km jungle path.

Every element of the build – even the ventilation- needed to be as close as possible to the reality. We knew from experience that Gilberts has the knowledge and capability to engineer a bespoke solution efficiently and economically.”

Contact:

Gilberts of Blackpool,
Gilair Works,
Clifton Road,
Blackpool,
FY4 40T

Phone: 01253 766911
Fax: 01253 767941

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