The Frederick Lanchester Library forms part of Coventry University. It has a gross floor area of
9 100 m² and is unusual in that, although it is a deep-plan building occupying a 50 m by 50 m
footprint, it is ventilated naturally with no artificial cooling, except for a separate basement area
which is air-conditioned. Figures 1 and 2 show the general layout of the building.
By its nature the building has a large number of transient occupants. At the design stage 2 500 entries per
day were anticipated. In practice, this has increased to 5 000. In addition a number of staff work permanently
in the building. The building is open for use for approximately 4 000 hours per year.
Frederick Lanc hester Library Coventry, United Kingdom
Acronym of the case
AdVent 17
Author(s) information
Lessons learnt
The building has generally performed well. There are a number of recommendations
which might benefit the design of future buildings using the same principles.
Areas which are occupied for longer periods of time could be co-located and access to other
areas limited. This would enable night-time ventilation to be operated without affecting
the comfort of night-time occupants.
The performance in summer can be improved if air inlet dampers are closed
down when the indoor dry-resultant temperature is below outdoor temperature.
Carbon dioxide control can be used to override such closure if required.
Consideration could be given to controlling the extent of opening of automatic vents on
a seasonal basis. This would reduce the risk of over-ventilation in the winter, thereby
reducing both energy consumption and the possibility of draughts.
Experience has also shown that is important that facilities management staff
are fully aware of the principles of the natural ventilation system and its controls.
