The Art of Air Curtains at Roca Gallery
The Roca London Gallery has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to complement the hallmarks of global bathroom brand Roca’s identity - design, innovation, sustainability and wellbeing. M&E engineer Max Fordham was tasked with specifying the air curtains to fit seamlessly into the reception space and chose three 1.5m electric Windbox air curtains from JS Air Curtains.
The design of the Roca London Gallery is highly stylized and the reception area is no exception. Air curtains were required to prevent cold air entering the building through the main entrance doors but it was essential that they did not detract from the aesthetics of the interior. Contractors Scomac Services took JS’ Windbox air curtains and designed and fabricated steel moulded covers, following the template of the German manufactured ceiling screens.
“We also had to make an extended telescopic bezel, following JS’ standard design, to enable us to connect to the air outlet,” explained Doug Kenneth, contracts manager for Scomac Services. “The Windboxes’ plug and play technology made them very straightforward to install within their unusual steel housing, which has not compromised their high efficiency performance in any way.”
The Windbox air curtain has a powerful air and heating output making it suitable for use on doorways up to 3.5m high. Available in five widths, the units can provide up to 7,400m3/h airflow and 32kW heating output. Adjustable airfoil shaped outlet vanes can be positioned at 0-15° to provide optimum seal across an entrance. The Windbox incorporates low noise centrifugal double inlet fans driven by an external rotor motor with built-in thermal protection. A wall-mounted controller provides five speed selection and comes with 7m of plug and play RJ45 telephonic cable and a hand held infra red remote. Alternatively it can be operated via BMS.
A micro-perforated inlet grille acts as an air filter to prevent airborne debris entering the air curtain prolonging its operational life. This removes the need for internal filter servicing and can be easily cleaned with a wipe or vacuum by regular maintenance staff.
The Windbox is available in electric, low-pressure hot water and air only models. The unit has a self-supporting casing construction made of zinc plated steel, finished in structural epoxy-polyester RAL 9016 as standard. Other colours or stainless steel construction are available on request.
