Background
The University of Leeds was founded in 1904, but it’s origin dates back to the nineteenth century. In 1831, it was known and established as the Leeds School of Medicine, which meant that students no longer had to travel to Scotland or London. It was not until 1904, that Leeds took the leap to establish the school as a university whereby King Edward VII granted it a university and independent institution.
The Faculty of Biological Sciences, School of Biology provides a range of Controlled Environments for the controlled cultivation of material used in plant research, including organism, organelles, gene function etc. This facility is also used for teaching and outreach projects.
Challenges Ahead
The University were known to Weiss Technik UK Ltd, as they were a previous customer of the environmental business of Sanyo Gallenkamp Ltd, which was bought out by Weiss Technik Ltd in 2004. Sanyo Gallenkamp were appointed by the University over twenty years ago to supply and install 4 x SGR 223 Multitier Growth Rooms c/w Philips fluorescent lighting. A proven performer in Plant Growth applications. After 2 illustrious decades, the time had come for the rooms to be replaced with a more energy efficient facility, utilising the most up to date technologies. So, once again the University chose to engage with the original Design team (now working for Weiss Technik UK Ltd) to provide a complete turnkey, future proof solution. The Design and Engineering Team came up with a market leading solution; complete with state-of-the-art Valoya LED plant Growth Lighting Systems. It was important that the walk-in rooms were of similar specification to the old ones but more efficient with lower running costs.
As like many universities, this still required the painful process of going to Tender and the angst of being able to secure the budget to be able to purchase what was required. Decisions were taken through various discussions between the Universities Procurement team, Estate team, facility staff and academics who would be leading the research that would be carried out in the growth rooms.
Weiss Technik Solution
After successfully winning the bid, Weiss Technik came out on top and met all the criteria requirements and with a previous relationship. Two decades later, and technology has moved on. Weiss Technik were able to provide a solution that met strict criteria and regulations required in today’s world. It was also an advantage that it was the same team from Weiss Technik that installed and commissioned the first set of walk in rooms.
A representative from the University commented that, “I was particularly impressed with the helpfulness of the Weiss Technik engineers whilst installing the rooms. They were always willing to discuss any queries I had, and were considerate of the fact that our facility was continuing to function at that time”
Outcome
The walk-in chambers were installed and commissioned during the most challenging time, Covid-19. This presented many problems that the Weiss Technik engineers overcame. Teams meetings were held and site visits were restricted during that time. Despite the many restrictions, the Weiss Technik team were able to install and commission four walk in rooms that met all their requirements.
After being installed for some time, the university representative commented, “We liked the ability to be able to network all our Weiss Technik controlled environments growth rooms so they could be monitored and controlled remotely”.
Contact Us
If you would like to talk to us about our range of climatic test chambers, get in contact with us via our Contact Form, or you can call on 01509 631595 or email the team on enquiries.gb@weiss-technik.com.