


Client Name
Stellenbosch University
Project Value
R2.5m
Project Completion
2020
Services
Design, Documentation, Construction
Project Description
The Schumann Building is an existing building consisting of a basement and 7 floors above ground level. The first 2 floors house the lecture rooms while the rest of the floors house offices. The project scope included upgrading the level 1 lecture halls. This involved building work as well as new HVAC installations and fire installations. Level 1 has 3 lecture halls, varying in size and capacity.
The HVAC installation consists of new chilled water air-handling units with supply and return air installations. New ducting, chilled water, hot water piping and diffusers were also installed. The system is a variable air volume system, and a new electronic building management system was installed to control the HVAC installation from the university facilities management offices.
The fire installation included alterations to the firewater installation as well as including passive fire system design. Stac Consulting Engineers was responsible for the fire plans for the project.
Unique Features and Challenges
- HVAC systems to lecture halls had to be low noise. This had to be done in an existing building utilising existing plant rooms with limited space
- The building is serviced by an existing centralised chilled water plant. Connections had to be made in a live environment
- Chilled water quality in the new systems had to be similar or better than existing before connections to existing could be made. This required filtering the chilled water through various stages.