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DECEMBER 07 - CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

A £1m+ refurbishment programme to create a luxury care home in York is using modern technology to help preserve the fabric and provide contemporary living.

Wellburn Care has acquired the Grade II listed Grimston Court, originally built in Jacobean style at the turn of the century, and is sympathetically upgrading the house and building new facilities in the grounds to provide 47 bedrooms, including 22 en-suite bedrooms in the existing building. To ensure each resident’s room in the main house remains fresh and odour-free but without impairment to the historic, ornate décor Passivent assisted ventilation is being fitted.

Each en-suite has a humidity sensitive extract discreetly fitted into the decorative ceiling plasterwork. The humidity sensitive extracts respond automatically to changes in relative humidity in the en-suite as the occupants wash and toilet, and boost extraction as required to ensure a fresh, dry, draught- and odour-free environment is maintained. The extracts are linked by ducting to continuously running low energy central extract fans located in the roof space and from the fan to discreet ventilation terminals on the roof.

The system thus ensures each bedroom/en-suite is ventilated to Regulatory requirements but without any occupant input and the need to turn fans on or off. Through the remote location of the fans it also eliminates the usual noise of extract fans running in the en-suite. Extraction is gentle and generally continuous, operating automatically between a relative humidity of 40%-70%. The window inlets ensure fresh external air is drawn in to replace the extracted air, again without draughts. The roofspace fans are the only element to require any electrical power, the ‘intelligent’ extracts opening and closing automatically in response to changes in relative humidity.

Explains David Robinson, Development Manager for Wellburn Care, “It was an extremely complicated specification because of the need to preserve the décor and reflect our wish to create the ambience of a 5star hotel. The design work from Passivent was fantastic, developing a scheme that would work properly yet blend in with the opulent internal finish.”

Passivent supplies a comprehensive range of through window and through wall trickle ventilators, plus natural and assisted ventilation solutions, with or without acoustic options. Its Passive and Assisted Ventilation systems are all BBA certified. Passivent is part of the Building Product Design Group, which specialises in developing innovative yet practical ventilation and roofing products in line with changing market requirements.

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