PROJECT FOCUS BOURNVILLE GARDENS RETIREMENT VILLAGE
picture courtesy The ExtraCare Charitable Trust Bournville Gardens Village
BOURN READY
SCS Group ’ s innovative integration system at Bournville Gardens Retirement Village combines Building Management Systems ( BMS ), natural ventilation and smoke control in a single system . Russell Drury reports on the project , with a close look at the advantages of an integrated system – particularly within a healthcare facility .
SCS Group has worked with Regal Mechanical and Electrical on almost a dozen projects over the years , with Regal utilising SCS ’ s smoke control systems in many of its developments .
Thanks to this successful partnership , when ExtraCare ’ s 212 home Bournville Gardens development in Birmingham arose , Regal was willing to step away from the normal way of operating and commissioned SCS to put into practice its idea of integrating BMS , natural ventilation and smoke control systems in one single system , a concept SCS had been working on for eight years . It was a ground breaking project for SCS , as integration on this scale had never been done before .
The BMS integrates more than a dozen building services , as it monitors the building ’ s energy usage ( including electrical , gas and water ), controls the gas safety system and automates the lighting , among others .
The retirement village , which offers an alternative to the traditional care home for people over 55 , is the ideal building to benefit from an integrated system . As a hybrid commercial and residential development , the building requires both a large BMS and a large smoke system . Combining the two offers a greater advantage for this development ( as it would for other commercial buildings ) than for a residential building with a small BMS , because the smoke system becomes part of the BMS core .
The atrium features curved architecture and needed opening-and-closing window actuators
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