In June 2021, the exhibition Chill Seeping from the Walls Gets between Us by the German artist Katharina Grosse was on display at the Helsinki Art Museum. The artist is known for her large, spatial works. In addition to awing the visitors, the impressive installations posed unforeseen challenges to ventilation.
During the exhibition, huge silk canvasses on which the works were spray-painted, extended from the ceiling to the floor, and needed to remain still, unaffected by the ventilation. The ventilation system was tailored to suit the exhibition using CFD simulation of the equipment, solid experience of the site’s ventilation designers, a bit of creativity, and the expertise of Climecon’s specialists.
The amount of supply air and the need for supply air in an arch hall about 12 meters high was 4,000 liters per second. Ventilation alterations had to be carried out before the artworks were hung. For this reason, the space had to be very precisely modeled and the placement of the ventilation equipment had to be designed accurately. The contracting time was tight, and there was no room for changes between the exhibitions.
Draft-free ventilation with stylish displacement diffusers
Due to the special nature of the art exhibition, a temporary ventilation system had to be implemented. Supply air was distributed to the occupied zone between the artworks in order to achieve good indoor air quality. DINO-R displacement diffusers were used to distribute supply air into the room in a controlled manner.
With the help of DINO, large amounts of supply air could be brought into the space without the feeling of draft, and thus the canvasses remained calmly in place. In addition, the wide orientation possibilities of the devices’ throw patterns were a significant advantage in optimizing the airflows. As the large supply-air diffusers were very much on sight in the exhibition hall, they also needed to pass the approval of the artist herself.
Nozzle ducts prevent the windows from fogging up
The indoor air in the art museum is humidified and the windows mist up easily. ROX nozzle ducts were placed against the windows, whereby the window surface is flushed with the supply airflow and fogging is prevented. Prior to delivery, Climecon designed the products according to the customer’s needs. According to the designs, the performance of the nozzle ducts was tested at Climecon’s own laboratory. Thorough design and testing assured that the products were suitable for the space and the customer was very satisfied with the solution.
Circular economy in HVAC field
The case is quite unusual in the HVAC field, as ventilation was temporarily modified to suit the purpose of the space. Along with the timeliness of the ventilation system, the need for a new operating model arose, i.e. the leasing of air terminals devices. The supplier is only paid for the time of use, and after the exhibition, Climecon will utilize the devices for reuse.
The project is a great example of how new ways of acquiring building services solutions and implementing circular economy can be found in such a traditional field. “As companies are increasingly required to adapt in front of the new, it is also important for us to help our customers, and tailor our solutions for the requirements of the site. With flexible operations, we can serve completely unprecedented needs such as in this case,” sums up Pekka Huhtela, Climecon’s product manager for air terminal devices.
