Project
HVAC experts and the accredited sole distributors of all Samsung air conditioners in South Africa .
“ We were appointed as the MECs for this project and the brief was to convert the CBD ’ s iconic landmark into luxury accommodation , offices , and retail stores . Thus we looked at various options and recommended Variable Refrigerant Flow ( VRF ) systems to meet the specification requirements and budget ”, says Kinnel .
During the first phase of the project , the 6th to the 13th floor consisted of hotel space , which has now been remodelled and replaced with 11 floors of luxury apartments . As part of the second phase , the focus was on upgrading the offices and retail stores . Fourways Group tendered an option for the HVAC equipment to Spoormaker and Partners , namely the Samsung VRF ( termed ‘ DVM ’) Heat Recovery System for phase one , the apartments .
Esteemed air conditioning contractors and a top dealer of Fourways Group : Coastal Airconditioning , were awarded the project .
THE CHALLENGES Kinnel also describes some of the challenges they met during the project . He explains , “ We had to limit the amount of maximum refrigerant size , which resulted in several smaller systems rather than the initially planned larger systems . Secondly , the plant placements also posed a challenge as the office VRF plant is located on the roof of the building while the residential plant is in the middle of the building and has been ducted against the facade to maintain the building ’ s historical look and feel .
Fourways ’ Engineering department embraced these challenges by offering custom VRF design assistance that would
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I September 2022 37