Cundall has supported Edinburgh-based charity, It’s good 2 give!, by helping build Ripple Retreat, its recently opened respite house for young people with cancer and their families, ‘a beautifully serene £1 m retreat’ on the southern bank of Loch Venachar in Callander.
Cundall has supplied mechanical, electrical, and sustainable engineering services, having undertaken dynamic thermal modelling to ascertain the potential thermal comfort performance of the spaces using natural ventilation via external window openings. Heating and domestic hot water is via an air source heat pump utilising a reverse refrigeration cycle of condensation and evaporation of a liquid/gas, with an electric pump compressing the gas to create heat energy. Cold water is provided from a localised bore hole, with water treatment plant within the building.
It’s good 2 give! raises money for local young people with cancer and their families in Scotland. Designed by architects, the Kettle Collective, the 260 m2 three-bedroom Ripple Retreat house features a distinctive ripple-shaped roof, with large glass windows ‘providing stunning views’ across the loch. Cundall said: “Inside, elegance and luxury combine with fun and colourful elements to create a modern space full of light and the reflections of the Retreat’s stunning surroundings.”
Cundall was approached to deliver pro bono services to the Ripple Retreat by Tony Kettle of Kettle Collective Architects and Ian McNicoll at It’s good 2 give! Graham Thomson, associate at Cundall, explained: “We were asked to provide building services designs for the Ripple Retreat, which we undertook as part of our campaign to volunteer 40,000 hours for our 40th anniversary.
