Gaia’s hydronic underfloor heating system has been installed by Anglia Heating throughout the new Bowthorpe Care Village to the west of Norwich, Norfolk. The package supplied by Gaia to cover an area of some 11,462m2, included piping for the UFH system, fixing rails, thermal and acoustic insulation, manifolds and actuators.
The new care village consists of Mayflower Court, an 80-bed specialist dementia care home, and The Meadows, Saffron Housing Trust’s 92 apartment housing with care scheme where NorseCare will be providing the care to the tenants. At the heart of the village is a central ‘hub’ with facilities including a restaurant, café, hairdressers, bar and community shop. The Bowthorpe Care Village is part of the wider Three Score development, with Norwich City Council planning to use the rest of the 32-hectare site to create 1,000 homes, community facilities and open space.
Within Mayflower Court and the village hub, the Gaia system was laid throughout and is divided into zones served by a variable temperature circuit connected to some 50 separate manifolds. Overall control is via the main building management system. At The Meadows, the communal areas are treated similarly while the 92 individual apartments, 14 of which have two bedrooms, each have their own manifold with the temperature regulated by heat interface units.
EPS or foam board thermal insulation was installed beneath the UFH system throughout while Yelofon HD10 acoustic insulation was provided for key areas, such as above the plant room, to prevent noise transmission to residents. The entire UFH system is supplied from a central gas CHP unit with back up from eight gas boilers.
Carl Wakefield, Contracts Manager at Anglia Heating, commented: “The Gaia team did a great job and made amendments to accommodate changes as the project moved forward. The system is very easy to install and we’ve had no issues with the manifolds, heat loss or heat loads – everything is up to temperature and working well.”
For further information on Gaia Climate Solutions, visit: www.gaia.co.uk
