A design prerequisite of all GroDome facilities is to ensure that when scientific parameters need to be adapted, the GroDome can be transformed to meet those requirements easily and without disruption
When a new project was planned for the EMR GroDome - details of which will be published in the near future - requiring extremely specific research conditions, Unigro was asked to retro fit the facility to accommodate the proposed trials.
In just four days, two of the six chambers were refitted to achieve exceptionally high supplementary light levels, day-length control and carbon dioxide enhancement.
The building management system was upgraded and reprogrammed to enable precise control and logging of the new parameters to maintain accuracy in the detail of the trials being conducted.
The completed work produced two 31m2 chambers with environmental control capabilities equivalent to any walk-in growth chamber but with the additional advantage of CO2 control without loss of negative pressure for containment.
This successful project illustrates the flexibility of the GroDome and demonstrates its capability to adapt to future research requirements without affecting the fundamental integrity of the design, which sustains high levels of containment and precise temperature control.
