Hillarys Plaza is a three-storeyed commercial building housing multiple tenancies including a gym and childcare centre. Located in Hillarys, WA, the building required air conditioning units for all ten tenancies, each with tailored and individually controlled air conditioning units.
Ocean Air Services worked with property developer AGEM Property Group to deliver the highly tailored air conditioning solution with a total system capacity of 457KW for the building.
The tender required the installation of air conditioning units for the tenancies prior to occupation. Each tenancy had to be provided with an air conditioning unit and condenser that could be controlled individually and was not linked. The childcare centre also needed a centralised controller so that the temperature of each room could be regulated from the Manager’s office, eliminating any scope for a child to have access to the air conditioner remotes.
Ocean Air Services specified Fujitsu General’s VRF system as it met the niche requirements of each tenancy and provided maximum operational efficiency, particularly within the childcare and gym facilities.
“It is a brilliant product for both the installers and end users. Every unit can be easily linked to the centralised controller. The end users were thrilled as it prevented any children getting their hands on air conditioner remotes, and simplified temperature regulation of every room to a single point of control,” said Cale Symons, project manager at Ocean Air Services.
The short delivery schedule was a major challenge for Ocean Air Services and Fujitsu General (Aust.) Pty Limited; since the property was built very quickly, they were not given sufficient lead time to coordinate product delivery.
“We had to provide the outdoor condenser units within a short turnaround, when normally there is quite a long lead time. Fujitsu was challenged to deliver these units in time for us to utilise the cranes on site,” commented Symons.
The tender specifications were quite complex since each tenancy had unique requirements of multiple types of units and controllers from cassettes to ceiling mount installations. Combined with the limited timeframe for the project, this led to logistical difficulties.
“Instead of ordering one of all the same product as you would on a residential project, we had to organise multiple deliveries of different products. The Fujitsu team and I coordinated closely to ensure we received the correct equipment on site at the right time; whilst this was challenging, we never had any issues. There was also reduced space between the ceiling and the floor above. It was a low space but still required heating and cooling capacity.”
Despite the scheduling and logistical challenges, Ocean Air Services and Fujitsu General were able to meet the deadlines and coordinate complex deliveries without any delays. The limited ceiling space issue was resolved using Fujitsu’s slimline mid static ducted units, which simultaneously improved the energy efficiency of the building.
“There was concern that using smaller units to fit the space would reduce the capacity of the system,” commented Symons. “Luckily, Fujitsu was able to provide slimline ducts that fitted the limited space without sacrificing heating and cooling capacity. This meant we could reduce the amount of indoor units, maximising energy efficiency.”
