TROX (UK) has helped to create a flexible air conditioning system to simplify any future layout changes at Colmore Court, a refurbished office block in the upmarket area of Snow Hill in Birmingham.

Because the owner of the 10-storey, glass façade building, insurance company Friends Provident, plans to let the property, it wanted the air conditioning system to be designed so that the configuration of offices could be changed easily to accommodate the differing needs of tenants.

In a contract worth £100,000, TROX supplied 274 horizontal Phantom waterside chassis-type fan coil units, 274 Type VSD slot diffuser faces plus 400 plenum boxes and 250 ADT louvre-face diffuser faces plus 155 plenum boxes. These have been fitted throughout the building in offices, toilets, foyers, reception areas and meeting rooms.

TROX sales engineer, Jermaine Calver, said: “Because the building’s owners wanted to ensure they could rearrange the office space to cope with the varying requirements of potential tenants, the same size fan coil units were fitted, with small modules around the perimeter of the building, so that they can be broken down easily.”

Remi Suzan of Gratte Brothers, design and build contractor for the M & E services, added: “As this was a speculative development, the client insisted on the highest build quality with the best products. It was therefore particularly helpful, and something that the client very much appreciated, that TROX was able to mock up in its Thetford laboratories the design of Colmore Court’s ceiling and grille selection and fan coil units so that they could see the quality of the grille in the ceiling.

“More importantly, TROX ran a comprehensive series of tests including airflow, temperature and noise, and proved the commissioning of the standard module – the fan coil unit, secondary ductwork, plenum boxes and grilles with the return air grille under the fan coil unit.”

By conducting these tests in carefully controlled laboratory conditions, TROX was able to provide its triple guarantee – on thermal, aerodynamic, and acoustic performance. Indeed, the client’s main concern was that the system should meet the stringent noise standard NR 37. TROX’s laboratory tests proved that it did. Mr Suzan said: “Once the mock up was running and we knew it worked, we then invited the consultant, Cundall Johnson, to Thetford. After they had signed off the design, 80 per cent of the risk of the project was gone.”

The Phantom PWS (waterside) horizontal, concealed chassis unit comes in five sizes to provide maximum flexibility, as well as outstanding thermal, hydraulic, and acoustic performance.

Gratte Brothers was the design and build contractor for the mechanical and electrical services and Structuretone was the main contractor.

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