North Norfolk Tourist Information Centre, Cromer

PJ Cozens were appointed at an early stage in the design to assist
in developing a building that was not only eco-friendly but was also contemporary and functional for the benefit of public and staff who would be using the building throughout the year. The accomodation includes the relocated tourist information centre, a cybercafe and new public toilets.

A solar thermal hot water system

The mechanical installation included a solar thermal hot water system to assist in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the building by providing around 50 - 60% of the buildings total annual hot water requirement. The building potentially had a high hot water demand due to it's location within the town and Cromer being a popular tourist attration. Therefore, two 3sqm vacuum tube solar collectors were fitted onto the pitched roofs to serve the public toilet blocks hot water needs.

A ground source heat pump

The building has a ground source heat pump which exploits the latent energy that is present in the ground, converting this energy into heat in an economical and responsible way. The heat pump circulates a brine solution through the ground collector system to collect the low grade heat to be transferred via the heat pump into high grade heat, in this case up to 40°C, which makes it suitable for the buildings underfloor heating system. The site required the drilling of vertical ground probes collectors to ensure we remained within the site boundary.

PJ Cozens carry out building services for clients throughout East Anglia, including Norfolk and Suffolk.