Like many other prominent sporting bodies, Worcestershire County Cricket Club has become a year-round business by diversifying into functions and events. To ensure comfort 365 days a year, it has added Daikin Sky Air Seasonal Classic systems to its premier facility, The View.
Part of a £10 million redevelopment project at the County Ground on New Road in Worcester, The View’s two floors provide an exclusive dining room and lounge for club members on match days. But when the stumps are away, it becomes a multi-purpose function suite, well-equipped for conferences, weddings, exhibitions, parties and presentations. It seats up to 140 in theatre-style conferences and 120 diners.
It is the centrepiece of New Road Function Suites, a high profile venue for business and private clients in the Worcester area. The five-storey complex also offers 10 meeting rooms, seating up to 12 delegates, and a ground floor Sports Bar, where guests can assemble ahead of functions in The View.
Stadium Manager, Paul Phillips, says air conditioning for The View was not in the original plans for the development, but after its first hot summer the need for a no-fuss cooling system was high on the Club’s agenda.
“The rooms can get pretty warm when they are full of people and particularly on sunny days,” he says. “Now we have a fast and economical solution to improve comfort for members and guests.”
Local Daikin D1 installer, Oakland Air Control, was called in to retrofit The View’s Sky Air systems, working around a busy match and events schedule. Oakland installed two Sky Air Systems for the lower floor of The View (members’ lounge), and three for the upper floor (members’ dining room). Each individually controlled system has a high COP Roundflow Cassette, connected to roof-mounted outdoor inverter units.
The Sky Air systems were installed primarily to provide cooling, but are able to supplement the original central heating installation, should the need arise.
Oakland Air Director Mark Satterthwaite says: “This was a cost-effective, tailored solution, chosen because the client was impressed by the Roundflow Cassette after seeing a Daikin promotional video. We recommended Sky Air as the best way to maximise efficiency and minimise draughts.”
The unique 360o radial air pattern of the Roundflow Cassette ensures a uniform air flow and temperature distribution. Up to 23 different airflow patterns are accessible via the wall-mounted remote controllers. The controllers also allow individual temperature ranges to be programmed, preventing people from selecting temperature setpoints that lead to excessive heating or cooling.
The Roundflow Cassettes installed at The View have a nominal heating capacity of 10.8kW (SCOP 4.3) and nominal cooling capacity of 9.5kW (SEER 6.7).
Mark Satterthwaite explains there was also a ‘no heat’ requirement during installation to avoid additional health and safety issues.
“Instead of copper refrigerant piping, which requires brazed joints, we used aluminum tubing with Reflok joints. This has the added advantage that aluminum is not targeted for thefts as often as copper.”
