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The Lee Valley Ice Centre was opened by Torvill and Dean in 1984, but by the 2010s it was aging and unable to cope with demand. A £30m redevelopment program was enacted and the building reopened in 2023.
As part of this redevelopment work copper shingles were used to face the front of the building. Due to the high levels of insulation within the structure these shingles remained at ambient temperature, allowing snow and ice to build up on the front of the building before it slipped off onto the concourse below.
Heat Mat were tasked with designing an energy efficient and fully automated heating system to ensure that the shingles above the entrance remained snow and ice free whatever the weather, eliminating any risk of ice and snow falling onto people below.
Working with the client we mapped out the area where the snow built up so we could provide a focused heat source in that area. The space behind the copper shingles was very restricted so we also needed to design a very thin system that was easy to install and would present no fire risk.
We specified a trace heating system to be mounted behind the copper panels and supplied bespoke stainless steel fixings that could be secured onto the structure behind the panels. We incorporated a layer of fire rated insulation behind the heating system and also ensured that there were no electrical connections that would require periodic checking in the difficult to access space there.
We supplied moisture and temperature sensors for installation onto the roof of the building where they could operate out of sight of the Ice Centre’s users. Combined with our ice and snow melting controllers these ensured that the system could operate automatically without any manual intervention required.
Heat Mat commissioned the system during 2023 confirming that it was operating as designed allowing the copper shingles to heat up to 25°C above ambient.
The system operated without problems through the winter of 2023/24 when the centre experienced a few weeks of sub-zero temperatures with no unwelcome snow or ice build up.
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