Architect: Studio E Architects
Contractor: Mitie Engineering Services (SE) Region
Type of works: supply and installation of Fläkt Woods' eQ air-handling units with thermal wheels.

Fläkt Woods has won a recent education contract in London. At Ark Academy in Wembley, AHUs with thermal wheels are being provided to enhance air quality and improve energy efficiency.

Ark School in Wembley is an all-through academy for 3 – 18 year olds, in new state-of-the-art accommodation. Working for Mitie Engineering Services (SE) Region who are engaged as the design and build contractor, Fläkt Woods is supplying four new AHUs from the eQ range, two fitted with thermal wheels, as well as one with a run around coil.

The eQ range is a new, highly adaptable air-handling unit, offering a range of individual features; intelligent controls, energy-efficient components and a flexible design, means that the eQ is perfectly suited for the educational sector.

By combining products into a system, Fläkt Woods has achieved the best energy solutions possible. This strategy requires that the systems and individual components are designed together.

Flakt Woods' thermal wheels provide the most efficient method of energy recovery. They will recover up to 85% (typically 75-85%) of the energy in the extract air, and are normally made of aluminium (although other materials are used), which rotate slowly vertically, to the supply and extract airflows.

The high-efficiency run around system is ideally suited as energy saving is a paramount requirement for the facility. The system will significantly reduce the overheads to the school, which has been environmentally designed by architects Studio E.

Pupils will have access to specialist indoor and outdoor sports facilities, excellent ICT facilities, music and drama studios and a 150 sq m, well-stocked and up-to-date library, as well as inviting and well-equipped classrooms. The academy has been laid out with the three- and four-storey secondary school, adjoining the double-height sports building. The two-storey primary school and nursery is at right angles to the secondary school with its own entrance.

Photograph courtesy of Studio E Architects.