Panasonic VRF makes the grade
6th January 2016
UK: The demands of providing air conditioning to a London restaurant in a Grade II listed building have been met by clever use of a Panasonic VRF system.
The Burger and Lobster restaurant chain opened its latest eatery in London’s Threadneedle Street in the summer. The street is famous as the site of the Bank of England, also referred to as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. It was also home to the London Stock Exchange before it relocated to nearby Paternoster Square in 2004.
Installers FWP and distributors Oceanair faced a number of challenges when designing the heating and cooling system for this particular Burger and Lobster location. The restaurant is in a Grade II listed building, which meant that they were unable to make any major alterations to the property. The restaurant also features a beautiful period ceiling that Burger and Lobster were keen to leave free of obstructions, so FWP had to design a solution that made use of other architectural features and could be installed in a listed building.
Burger and Lobster is open six days a week, from 7am until late in the evening, and that restricted the amount of time FWP could spend on site installing the system. They therefore required a solution that would be quick and easy to install, occupy minimal space but still be able to provide a powerful heating and cooling solution. Working with Oceanair to define the final solution, FWP specified and installed the Panasonic ECOi 2-way VRF system.
In order to adhere to the restrictions imposed by the Grade II listing and Burger and Lobster’s strict interior design aesthetic, FWP specified Panasonic’s concealed ducted units to be installed behind the banquette seating to provide a totally hidden, yet effective, air conditioning solution.
Just as FWP were restricted with what they could install in the public areas, Panasonic’s compact ECOi 2-way units were also able to fit in with the limited space in the back-of-house area.
Hard-wired controllers were also installed to give staff at Burger and Lobster total control over temperature.
