Back to Latest News 07 Jul 2022 Christchurch

Little Jets lands at Christchurch Airport

Located within the Christchurch International Airport precinct, Little Jets is a standalone, purpose-built early childhood education (ECE) centre. The preschool will be applying for a licence for up to 75 children, and it has been built to care for the children of parents who work at the airport or one of the businesses within the precinct.

Little Jets ECE Centre at Christchurch International Airport

“More than 7000 people work within the airport campus. Being able to offer working mums and dads an early childhood centre, focussed on providing them and their young children with high quality care and education in a safe, nurturing environment, that is right on their doorstep provides added peace of mind,” says developer Hamish Ireland. “We can't thank CIAL and Citycare Property enough, for handing us an outstanding facility, which I think will be a further asset to the precinct and the people who work within it.”

Citycare Property was the main contractor on the project, which began in late 2021, and was tasked with building construction, as well as completing other works such as installing the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

Citycare Property HVAC Technician, Anish Singh, completes the installation of a ceiling cassette as part of the HVAC system at the Little Jets ECE centre.

Customised solutions in the HVAC space

With energy efficiency being a top priority, the decision was made to install a variant refrigerant flow (VRF) air conditioning system with Lossnay heat recovery units. VRF is a high-capacity, ductless, large-scale HVAC system that allows multiple indoor units to run on the same system, and obtain their high efficiency through the use of inverter compressors.

“This versatility means VRF products are customisable to meet the individual specifications of virtually any project, making them particularly suited to a range of commercial spaces and appealing for facility managers,” says Citycare Property HVAC team lead, Vishal Chandra. 

The Citycare Property HVAC team has vast experience in the installation of customised, as well as complex, HVAC systems and was able to offer a number of solutions resulting in cost savings to the client, including revised seismic bracing and the installation of insulated ducts to avoid future issues with condensation.

Citycare Property HVAC Duct Installer, Narciso Arias (left), Anish Singh and HVAC Operations Manager Vishal Chandra at the Little Jets ECE centre.

HVAC expertise and experience

The team also faced several challenges with the job, most notably the availability of materials due to COVID-19 shortages and reconciling design difficulties. However, they were able to call on their industry relationships and draw on their combined experience to ensure that these difficulties didn’t impact the project.

“We completed the project on time as planned and within budget,” says Vishal. “Thanks to the team’s initiative, we were able to pass on cost savings to the client and provide them with a system that should minimise, if not completely avoid, any future problems.”