Arthur Mellows Village College: Case Study

Arthur Mellows Village College is a secondary school located near Peterborough serving pupils aged from 11 to 18. The school is an academy with a specialism in technology.

For the first part of the project, the school wanted to breathe new life into the old Science Department building. It created the McLaren Building to house art, science and media studies classrooms.
A major aspect of the refurbishment focused on the upgrading of environmental controls. Abtec BT was tasked with providing integrated lighting controls, mechanical vents and a building mangement system (BMS) plant room based on Tridium technology. All of the newly introduced lighting was based on LED technology, which in combination with Abtec’s control systems provided a better learning environment for pupils. Upon completion, the facility exceeded current thermal insulation levels.

Due to the success of the McLaren Building, Abtec has since completed several additional projects at Arthur Mellows Village College, including the introduction of a BMS in the humanities block, lighting controls in a newly constructed site office block, and lighting controls and BMS in the sports hall. Abtec has also performed BMS works in the main plant room and provided a solution for controlling the underfloor heating, CO2 mechanical vent, lighting control and plant room controls in the refectory.

Throughout the various projects Abtec BT adopted an agnostic approach, using DALI, as it was important to avoid reliance on any one manufacturer allowing for parts to be replaced when needed. The systems installed by Abtec also facilitate the automatic testing of emergency lighting on a monthly basis, a function that saves on labour costs and time – boosting operational efficiency in the process.

As well as reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the new controls have provided the school with greater ease of use and operational efficiencies.