The Wesley Taylor Village offers independent retirement living; accommodation, social activities, services and assistance as required. The building design features an external glass elevator shaft to support residents and maintain the views of their stunning beach location on the Narrabeen Peninsula.
The problem
Post occupancy, it was found that the internal temperatures of this elevator rose to over 50°C. The management abandoned the use of the elevator during the summer months due to both the welfare of the residents and mechanical operational issues caused by material heat mass. As a result, low mobility residents were confined to the ground floor levels.
Architects Maitland and Butler were engaged to find a solution to the overheating issue. They approached
Greene Fire
(our Australian distributor) who worked together with them to model the impact on the solar heat gain which was achievable by installing Microlouvre Koolshade® screens.
The solution
Prior to considering Microlouvre Koolshade®, the architects had completed a sun study which showed how large, fixed horizontal louvres could provide enough shading through the hottest part of the summer day to keep the internal temperature in the lift shaft to a tenable level. However, when the sun angle was below 33 degrees (up to 11am at the height of summer), there would be no protection and therefore the early morning sun would heat the elevator before the horizontal louvres could have any effect.
In comparison tests with the building’s design tolerances, Microlouvre Koolshade® proved to deliver 35% shading at 0 degrees sun angle and full shading when the sun angle was at 40 degrees, therefore it was selected by the architect as the optimum shading solution.
Following install, further tests showed that MicroLouvre® had reduced the midday summer temperatures inside the elevator by as much as 50% and the lobby area it was housed in, reduced by more than 10°C too.
Results
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50% reduction in internal temperature
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Maintained ability to view out
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Removed need for structural building works
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Added aesthetic benefit of screening internal lift mechanism
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Easy to clean and allows access to services
