Bespoke theatre heat pump replacement contract completed by West Midlands-based renewable energy company

A West Midlands-based renewable energy company has installed a tailored heat pump system at The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds.

Zeuner has updated and optimised the obsolete heat pump system at the award-winning live music and entertainment complex.

The Apex is part of the Arc Shopping Centre development, built on the Old Cattle Market site in 2009, and the venue was built to have state-of-the-art acoustics.

However, accessing the roof to replace the old heat pump system housed there presented significant challenges.

So Zeuner hit upon an innovative solution – they created a “carbon copy” of the space in their Coventry workshop, built the new heat pump system to the exact dimensions of the structure, then took it apart and transported it to the site.

Founder Chris Reilly said: “It was a massive undertaking to take out the old system and install the more efficient design in its place. In understanding we could not crane in, we designed the system to be dismantled in manageable sections and hauled up ourselves.

“The result has been a significant cost saving, and de-risking of the operational building, as the build took place off site in our controlled and managed purpose environment.”

Chris says a tailored, consultative heat pump solution can meet any building load requirement, saves money over time, and helps organisations fulfil their sustainability and CSR obligations.

The process may also offer tax incentives and usually bypasses planning permission requirements.

“There is also less wastage for tailored systems because standardised systems are not optimised for the building’s proportions, whereas Zeuner systems are built to the real estate from the start and use less material as a result,” Chris added.