Upscale Club Gets Designer HVAC Treatment
Indoor air comfort is top priority for Mountainside Athletic ClubThe new $3.1 million Mountainside Athletic Club at the Westin Hotel’s Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C., is upscale from its slate floors, granite counter surfaces, custom millwork and infrared sauna right down to its high performance heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. |
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| “The challenge…is providing the continuous 19ºC temperature that most clubs prefer but without the chilling effects that such cool air has on sweaty exercisers.” |
Using state-of-the-art custom equipment and fabric air-distribution ductwork, consulting engineering firm Stantec Consulting Ltd. and mechanical contractor West Bay Mechanical Ltd., both from Victoria, created an indoor air environment that complements the upscale 10,000 square foot club.
Fitness clubs demand a different set of HVAC principles than schools, offices and commercial buildings, says Stantec’s Tom Wilson. “The demands of a club include airflow rates, air distribution patterns, and odour and temperature control to provide the ultimate in indoor air comfort.”
A typical office space’s air change rate might be designed at 1 to 1.25 cubic feet per minute/square foot whereas Mountainside was specified at 1.5 to 1.75 cubic feet per minute/square foot.
Cool not drafty
The challenge to fitness club HVAC design, according to Wilson, is providing the continuous 19ºC temperature that most clubs prefer but without the chilling effects that such cool air has on sweaty exercisers.
To meet this challenge, the team of experts decided against the inexpensive rooftop HVAC units and spiral metal ductwork with diffusers every 10 feet that most clubs typically opt for. At Mountainside, Wilson specified premium fabric duct with S-vents – 1.5 inch perforations that run the entire length of the duct. A porosity was chosen that allows 15% of the air to flow through the fabric and the remaining 85% to be evenly distributed without drafts via the S-vents.
A sheet metal contractor installed a single white 14- or 12-inch diameter truck line in each room with linear diffusion at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. A U-shaped duct run was used in one large room for wider air distribution coverage and to conform to the shape of a curved glass wall. The result is an unnoticeable airflow with no drafts on exercisers.
“For the price of metal, fabric gives you a more even air distribution, plus its appearance is streamlined and much more aesthetic than metal,” says Wilson, who has previously specified fabric duct on aquatic projects and high-tech office space at Vancouver Island Technology Park. “Typically, routine air distribution is hidden in ceilings or soffits. But here the look of the fabric ductwork really caters to the upscale atmosphere of the club.”
The facility plans to take advantage of the fabric ducts’ easy-clean maintenance. It can be quickly disassembled by the maintenance staff and laundered commercially. “Serviceability was a major factor in specifying all portions of the HVAC equipment because the facility has planned a rigorous maintenance schedule,” says Wilson.
Appearance and Performance
Mechanical systems were chosen for both aesthetics and high performance. Rooftop units would have detracted from the natural rock and timber facade and sloped roof especially when seen from the resort’s taller, surrounding buildings. Instead, three air handlers were installed in an indoor mechanical room. Condensers are located outside in a remote, unobtrusive ground level area.
The air handlers – two 2,500 cubic feet per minute (cfm) models and one 2,000 cfm model – are supplied by ground-mounted condensers. Additionally, a 1.2 MBH (1,000s of BTUs per hour) boiler supplies hot water coils in the air handlers for space heating, domestic hot water production and outdoor pool water heating.
Heat recovery ventilator units efficiently recover heat from the shower areas for heating the locker rooms during the winter.
“This isn’t your average everyday HVAC equipment and ductwork,” says Wilson. “This is state-of-the-art equipment that you would expect to see in an upscale facility.”
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