Originally opened by Torvill and Dean in 1984, the Lee Valley Ice Centre had become outdated by the 2010s and was struggling to meet demand. A \u00a330m redevelopment programme<\/strong> was undertaken, and the new facility reopened in 2023 featuring two Olympic-sized ice rinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the redevelopment, the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade was clad with copper shingles. Due to the high levels of insulation within the structure, the shingles remained at ambient temperature, allowing snow and ice to accumulate before sliding off onto public walkways \u2014 posing a significant safety risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The objective was to design an energy-efficient, fully automated heating system<\/strong> that would prevent snow and ice build-up on the fa\u00e7ade and eliminate the danger of falling ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working closely with the client, we mapped the risk areas on the fa\u00e7ade and delivered a bespoke trace heating system<\/strong>. This was mounted behind the copper shingles using stainless steel fixings specifically designed for the structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The system had to be extremely thin to fit into the restricted space and was built with fire-rated insulation<\/strong> to ensure safety. To avoid future maintenance issues, no electrical connections were left in the inaccessible areas behind the panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To guarantee automatic and maintenance-free operation<\/strong>, Heatcom supplied roof-mounted moisture and temperature sensors linked to advanced ice and snow melting controllers. This allowed the system to activate only when needed, without manual intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The system was commissioned in 2023 and successfully raised the copper fa\u00e7ade temperature by up to 25\u00b0C above ambient<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the winter of 2023\/24, when the centre experienced several weeks of sub-zero conditions, the solution performed flawlessly \u2014 keeping the fa\u00e7ade completely free of snow and ice, and ensuring a safe entrance for all visitors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lee Valley Ice Centre, London
\n\n\n\nOur Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nProject in Detail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nThe Result<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nAs part of a \u00a330m redevelopment, Heatcom delivered a bespoke fa\u00e7ade heating system to prevent dangerous snow and ice build-up on the building\u2019s copper cladding. Using ultra-thin trace heating cables, fire-rated insulation, and fully automated controls, the solution keeps the entrance safe and ice-free \u2014 even during weeks of sub-zero temperatures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[331],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frostskydd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n