Bents Garden Centre in Warrington, Cheshire has undergone an extensive £15m development over its 67-acre site. Whilst not forgetting their gardening heritage, Bents have created an environment that is no longer just focus on the garden but also encompasses home, life and food for a complete day out for everyone to enjoy. This impressive project has presented them with the 2017 title of Best Destination Garden Centre in the UK.
Owner Matthew Bent’s vision of his new development was clear from the outset. He wanted to create a visually alluring store which embraced sustainability. Choosing the Jordon Group as principal refrigeration and air conditioning engineering contractor made this vision a reality.
Refrigeration and cold rooms were installed in the food hall to create the butchers counter, the patisserie, the delicatessen, and supermarket.
Mitsubishi Air Conditioning was installed throughout to create the perfect temperature year round for shoppers, warming in winter and cooling in summer. The condensing units were fitted externally on the roof and completely hidden out of sight.
Heat recovery ventilation, also known as HRV, was built into the HVAC system and installed in every department and entrance to the store. HRV provides fresh air and improved climate control, while also saving energy by reducing heating (and cooling) requirements. The engineering work was skilled as each HRV installation was discreet, pipework hidden from view and external vents disguised behind the shop front signage.
A heat recovery system was installed which uses the waste heat from the food hall cold store to heat the hot water for use in store. The system is capable of providing 360 liters of hot water for every hour that Bents is open. Looked at annually that could be as much as 1,300,000 liters of hot water. The annual energy saving would be 80,000 kWh’s per year or put into sustainability terms 21 tonnes of carbon a year, truly embracing Mr. Bents vision of sustainability.
