Following up on our earlier post, the Big Ass Fans have been installed! Big shout out to Madeline who made this great video about the final phases. The Big Ass Fans are huge. But it really takes a person standing next to them to really grasp their scale!
Keeping the Arts Center Cool…
and warm! It takes several systems working in conjunction to properly heat and cool the Arts Center during temperature extremes. The fans are just one part. However, they serve an important role in keeping the large masses of air in our repurposed factory from becoming stagnant and from rows of differently heated air from forming. With the fans, we can be certain that any temperature change we are trying to make is uniform throughout the space. That temperature change can be made by the two other systems in use to control the heat of the building. The central heating and cooling units, and the motorized window panels in our mostly glazed building.
More than Just Fans
Recirculating air from within the building, our heating and cooling system will bring temperatures out of the extremes and into the comfort zone. The giant scale ducting is not only functional, but is used to aesthetic effect throughout the space, and is a common feature of reclaimed industrial architecture. The motorized window panels will allow us to vent hot air generated by crowds or trucks and will help us freshen up the building in the summer.
And if the fans aren’t enough to change things up we can always open our giant bay doors on the east side of the building to really get the air flowing!
About the author
I've worked at WaterFire Providence since 2003. For the first 9 years of my career, I worked in the Production Shop learning all of the details that go into the physical production of the event. In 2012 transitioned to the role of managing WaterFire's social media and web presence. I now head up WaterFire Providence's digital projects including, web, social, databases, and our physical IT infrastructure.
