Improving Comfort for Passengers & Staff at London's Gatwick International Airport
Key Objectives
- Improve HVAC efficiency
- Increase and stabilise temperature throughout the ground floor
- Improve comfort for the passengers and staff
The Challenge
High footfall through the ground floor lobby entrances at London Gatwick Airport meant the doors were frequently open and being left exposed to the external environment. The 3.6m wide entrance has no internal doors. During the winter when the terminal concourse was being heated, the presence of a significant stack effect through the stairwell to the upper floors, escalated the thermal exchange of air throughout the space from the influx of cold air from the open doors. This made it difficult to maintain the concourse temperature, especially during extreme winter conditions.
The Solution
Following an in-depth site survey, we recommended the installation of a Durashield Air Barrier system due to slight negative pressure. The Air Barrier was custom-designed and manufactured to precisely fit each internal lobby door, and strategically positioned horizontally across both openings.
Enershield Air Barriers create a robust seal by recirculating internal air across the open door. This design ensures effective environmental separation between external conditions and the concourse area. This results in reduced external air infiltration and enhanced internal temperature stability.
Post-installation temperature measurements demonstrated a rapid decrease of up to seven degrees Celsius within a minute of deactivating the air barrier. As a result of seeing this impressive outcome, the client is now planning to optimise their HVAC heating system near the entrances, with the objective of further elevating the internal temperature and improving occupant comfort.
NB: An independent CFD (computerised fluid dynamic) report was commissioned by the client to help understand how more effective an Air Barrier system performs under set conditions when compared to alternative overdoor heated technologies.
