Air Conditioning Design & CAD
Get the system right on paper before anyone drills a hole. Proper design work for new builds, renovations and commercial fit-outs, specified against the actual building rather than a rule of thumb.
Why design happens before installation
Most air conditioning problems are not installation problems. They are specification problems that only become visible after installation, at which point they are expensive to unwind.
A system sized off floor area alone ignores nearly everything that determines how much heat a room actually gains: how much glass it has and which way that glass faces, how many people are in it, what equipment is running, how well it is insulated, and what the ceiling height does to the volume of air involved. Two rooms with identical floor plans can need meaningfully different capacity.
Undersize it and the system runs permanently flat out, never quite gets there, and wears out early. Oversize it and it cools quickly, shuts off, and leaves the air damp and clammy because it never runs long enough to remove moisture. Both cost more to run than the correct system would have.
What the design work covers
Heat load calculation
Working out what the space actually gains through glazing, occupancy, equipment, lighting and orientation, and sizing capacity to that instead of to a rule of thumb.
System selection
Choosing between wall splits, multi-splits, cassettes and ducted distribution based on how the building is laid out and how it is genuinely used, not on what is easiest to fit.
CAD drawings
Documented layouts showing unit positions, pipe and duct routing, drainage falls and electrical requirements. Something the other trades can actually build from.
Coordination
Making sure the routes work alongside the electrical, plumbing and structural work, so conflicts get resolved on a drawing rather than on site.
When design work pays for itself
- New buildsRouting planned into the structure from the start. Pipework and ducting disappear into the building instead of being surface-mounted afterwards because nobody left room for them.
- Renovations and extensionsWhere an existing system has to be extended or reworked, and the question is whether the current plant can carry the additional load or needs replacing.
- Commercial fit-outsOffices, retail and hospitality spaces where the layout is still being finalised and the air conditioning should inform it rather than be squeezed in at the end.
- Systems that never worked properlyA building where the air conditioning has always underperformed. Usually a specification fault, and worth diagnosing on paper before spending money on more equipment.
Design and installation under one roof.
Because we install as well as design, the drawings are made by people who will have to build from them. That tends to remove a familiar problem, where a design is technically correct but impractical to install, and the compromises get made on site by whoever is holding the drill.
It also means one point of accountability. If something does not perform, there is no argument about whether it was the design or the installation.
Working with your architect or contractor
We are used to coming in as one trade among several, working to someone else's programme and drawing set. If you have an architect, main contractor or project manager, we will coordinate with them directly rather than adding another thing for you to relay back and forth.
We have done this for businesses including Coca-Cola, Honda, Aspen, G4S, Tavcor and Cerebos, and have been working in the Eastern Cape since 2003.
What shapes the cost
- Size and complexity. A single-room assessment is a different exercise from a multi-storey commercial building.
- Drawing detail. An indicative layout versus a fully documented set for other trades to build from.
- Existing information. Whether architectural drawings already exist, or the building has to be measured up from scratch.
- Coordination. How many other trades the design has to be reconciled with.
Tell us about the project and we will come back with a clear scope and price. No obligation.
Where we work
From 286 Walmer Boulevard, South End, Gqeberha, covering Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Walmer, Summerstrand, St Francis Bay and the surrounding areas, for residential, commercial and industrial projects.
Book a consultation
Tell us about the project and where it has got to. We will tell you what design work it genuinely needs, and what it does not.
Book a ConsultationOr call 041 581 6563 and speak to someone.