The brief:
To allow the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre in the historic Pah Homestead to host prestigious art exhibitions that have strict loan requirements relating to the precious pieces of art and sculptures, Auckland Council engaged Jacksons to provide an engineering solution to get the building up to international gallery standards. When storing or exhibiting valuable art, the environment must be kept with stable and precise humidity and temperature control.
Project scope:
Jacksons needed to design a system that could supply precision humidity and temperature-controlled air-conditioning for three exhibition halls and an art storage room. To keep artworks safe and make the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre a viable option for loaning valuable art, we devised HVAC systems that keep the gallery at a constant Indoor Dry Bulb Temperature Range of 21°C+/-1°C and an Indoor Relative Humidity Range of 50%HR+/-5%RH.
To add to the complexity of the job, Pah Homestead is 139 years old and is a heritage building with all of the variables that encompasses this. Also, the exhibition spaces are used for a variety of reasons, including events, concerts, and as a gallery. This meant the air conditioning systems needed to factor in changes in the number of people (and body warmth) in the space, while keeping it within those very specific temperature and humidity readings.
The project:
Jacksons has worked with Auckland Council and TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre throughout the design stage to ensure that all parties’ needs have been satisfied. This project is currently moving into the construction phase with works planned to be completed in 2019.
