Howorth Air Technology has supplied 16 of its new Screenless Exflow Evolution ultra clean canopies for operating theatres at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital (HEJ – August 2012).
The North Bristol NHS Trust had seen screenless theatre canopies elsewhere in Europe, and knew the design offered the ‘future-proofing and flexibility of use’ it required. When main contractor, Carillion, initially approached Howorth, the company did not offer a screenless option, so it designed one specially. Howorth explained: “The decision to use screenless canopies was made late in the build programme, so the fact that our design did not require the bulky lowlevel recirculation ducts of some competitor systems made it particularly attractive. The latter would have meant a very disruptive installation.” Installation commenced last month. The Evolution retains the basic construction of Howorth’s Exflow 28 and 32 models, but ‘innovative engineering at the air discharge means the system’s performance has been recreated, and in many ways improved, without the need for the traditional partial walls, or potentially bulky low level recirculation ducts, remote fans, or chilled water cooling coils’.
