The Sudima Hotel is an award winning 4.5 star hotel that offers 153 well appointed rooms. It provides an around the clock shuttle service to and from the Auckland International Airport, located only two kilometres away. The Sudima Hotel also has a fully equipped gym and indoor heated pool to cater to its’ guests needs.
HWHPs (Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd) were brought into the design process for the hotel at a late stage. This had an impact on the design because a plant room to house the equipment to heat the pool and refresh the air in the enclosure had not been incorporated into the design.
The importance of getting the design right cannot be underestimated. Indoor pools are one of the most challenging enclosures to deal with due to high humidity, therefore it is absolutely critical to:
- have an energy efficient heat source (Duoheat)
- have an accurately sized ventilation system to control the temperature, humidity and overall indoor moisture level (Vent-Air).
- have a properly designed, discrete air distribution system that supplies freshly heated air evenly, efficiently and quietly to prevent condensation forming in the pool hall, especially on windows and external walls.
Alan Jaffe introduced us to Bruce Holdsworth for the engineering requirements of the indoor pool at the Sudima Hotel. We prepared a full heating and ventilation design and one of our recommendations was to add a dedicated mechanical room to optimise the operational performance of our Duoheat and Vent-Air systems. One of the roles of the Vent-Air system is to remove moisture from the pool hall and reduce the heating cost by recovering heat from the leaving air and increase the COP (co-efficient of performance) of the Duoheat heat pump.
The only possible location for the mechanical room was an external corner of the main pool hall. It was so close to guest rooms that equipment needed to be strategically placed to minimise noise conduction that could potentially disturb hotel guests. Bruce and Alan from the Holdsworth Group were understanding of the predicament and HWHP appreciates their cooperation to get the best result that will save them money in running and maintenance costs while prolonging the life of the building.
The hotels’ indoor pool is a successful attraction with guests making use of the warm pool and enjoying the comfortable condensation free environment.