The M&E team at Liverpool City Council has selected 20 Smith’s Caspian Concealed fan convectors for its Town Hall, a Grade I listed 18th century building to keep it warm throughout the year. Smith’s Caspian Universal Concealed was developed especially for this project and is now regularly specified as part of the heating solution for listed buildings such as churches, hotels and other commercial premises.
Situated in the heart of the city centre, the Town Hall is well-known for having hosted various prestigious events over the years, including visits by royalty and famous celebrities including The Beatles. Home to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, it is a popular venue for weddings, conferences, meetings and functions so many of the rooms are hired out by members of the public on a regular basis. This means that a favourable temperature in all rooms, throughout the year, particularly during the cold, winter months, is always a priority.
The original heating system consisted of standard fan convectors covered with decorative panels which restricted the amount of heat that was distributed into each room. This prevented the warm air circulating effectively and overall, the heating system was unable to reach the temperature required to heat the building successfully, leaving many larger rooms chilly.
In addition, due to its age and style, the Town Hall has a very high ceiling, which created further challenges and the Council needed to find a solution that would address each of these issues properly. As a listed building, the interiors had to be protected and the heaters had to be hidden so they didn’t affect the fabrication of the building.
Commenting on the project, Smith’s Sales & Marketing Director, Jim Bennett stated, “Liverpool City Council needed a bespoke solution from Smith’s that could competently address and resolve all the heating challenges this project entailed. With Ray Black, the Mechanical Maintenance Manager at Liverpool City Council, the team at Smith’s discussed producing a fan convector to meet the precise specifications required.
“The Caspian Concealed was produced far in advance of the project installation date because we recognised the length of time that the project review process would take. In the meantime, we have been able to offer this solution to other contractor specifiers working on heating maintenance projects on other listed buildings.
“Smith’s is committed to producing the best commercial heating solution available and if that means we need to go back to the drawing board and create a bespoke product for all or part of the solution, then that is precisely what we will do. Once the project review was completed, Liverpool City Council were keen to progress the installation of the 20 Caspian Concealed fan convectors and we were able to meet their demands fully and on time.”
The 20 Caspian Concealed units were installed behind panels in the walls of a number of rooms within the building, enabling visitors to feel the effects of the heat without having to see the products. Approximately four Caspians were installed in three reception rooms, one ballroom, two dining rooms and a meeting room. They were able to position the ducts so the heat could be effectively distributed around the building. The concealment of the fan convectors has been done without any compromise to the internal fabric of the building or to the fan convection heating. The Caspian Concealed is said to be ideal for heritage restorations and projects where the physical appearance of the internal building premises is essential to the overall appeal of the building.
The Caspian Concealed is a versatile, flexible heater that can be specified with different accessories that the manufacturer believes to provide the best possible heating solution for a concealed fan convector available on the UK market today.
