Following success in an international design competition, TCL have been working with Qatar Museums to develop two playgrounds ‘Cave of Wonders’ and the ‘Adventure Ship’ for the grounds of the National Museum of Qatar. The attraction opened last weekend.
Transsolar was in charge of the outdoor comfort concepts which included shading strategies as well as a technology we developed called Dry Mist to improve comfort inside the ship and increase the usage times of the playgrounds. For this project the Dry Mist Fans where integrated into bespoke elements of the playgrounds as e.g. clay pots or cargo boxes.
In warm and humid climates, misting systems are often installed to improve conditions in public spaces. However, people often reject them as they are sprinkled with water droplets and disturbed by noise. When the Transsolar engineers studied the process with advanced human-biometeorological models they found that fully developed adiabatic cooling and elevated air speeds could, in theory, create a great improvement of outdoor comfort. Initial experiments by Transsolar showed that such a process could be realized with very small droplets created by specially designed high-pressure nozzles and the focused air flow of a fan. As the droplets fully evaporate and people feel only a cold breeze, we call this technique Dry Mist.
The ‘Cave of Wonders’ is tempered by radiant cooling mats and an AC system to generate the perception of a cool cave for the kids in the hot climate of Doha.