Weatherite Helping to Cool Down John Lewis Stores
Weatherite Building Services has just completed upgrading the air conditioning systems at the John Lewis department store in Milton Keynes.This is part of a major refurbishment programme Weatherite Building Services are undertaking for John Lewis which also includes the Aberdeen, Cheadle and Peterborough stores.
As the principle contractor, Weatherite Building Services assumed total responsibility for the recovery of redundant plant, together with the design, installation and commissioning of replacement systems, which, in the case of the Milton Keynes store, included four new Hitachi chillers and 21 new Daikin split systems.
The existing systems throughout the stores are being replaced primarily because they used the R22 refrigerant which has been found to have a detrimental effect on the ozone layer due to its excessive UV levels but also because the existing equipment was too dilapidated to be able to offer a ‘refrigerant drop-in’ solution.
Graham Mappledoram, Maintenance Surveyor (Engineering), John Lewis Partnership comments: “The Partnership is committed to green issues and being environmentally friendly and energy efficient is important to us. We are delighted with our new air conditioning which is so much more reliable and efficient compared to the old system. We are now confident that our store will be kept at just the right temperature all year round for our customers and staff.”
Mike Turton, sales director, Weatherite, comments: “Having already developed a close partnership with both Daikin and Hitachi we were very familiar with the products that were chosen by John Lewis Partnership to provide their customers and staff with precise cooling throughout the building.
“Following the success of these first projects for John Lewis Partnership, we hope to work with them in the future on their five year programme to upgrade air conditioning at their other stores across the country.”
Weatherite Building Services is part of the £40m Weatherite group, one of the UK leaders in air conditioning and air handling equipment.
More recently Weatherite Building Services has expanded its activities to cover other sectors of the building services market, including heating, ventilation, boiler house refurbishment, water, control systems and electrics, as well as all aspects of commercial air conditioning systems. WBS now offers a single source choice to its customers which includes project management, design, installation and commissioning capabilities.
