Ventilation in a design-led renovation: how to build climate control into an interior without ruining the project

“Nobody notices the air until someone spoils it”

Our guest at the studio is Alexander, head of Vozdukh-Expert.

The company started with small ventilation grilles. Back then, the word “air conditioner” itself was unfamiliar to almost everyone: they installed the first one, then a second, a tenth, a hundredth, and now Alexander has been running the company for 20 years. Every day brings something new here, and ventilation is genuinely interesting work for the team.

The more fresh air there is around, the easier it is for everyone to live: breathing clean air is, broadly speaking, something everyone has a right to. Air should be fresh, cool and clean, and in a designer interior it should also be invisible.

Ventilation is essentially air purification, dust removal: the system clears out fine particles that get into a room. Some particles can even penetrate deep into the respiratory tract. And however successful an interior looks, it still has to be comfortable to live in: if living there is uncomfortable, it no longer matters how good the sofa or the wall colour is. Aesthetics and microclimate have to be combined, and that's difficult, but necessary.

What's behind this project

Tell us what was done on site: what technologies and systems were used, and what baseline data did the developer provide?

This is a very interesting project for our city: it has a central air conditioning system and central ventilation. It might seem that little depends on us, since the building provided all the baseline data. But integrating engineering into design still throws up unusual questions and difficulties.

The client here was demanding, a family ready to pay for a quality result and to hold us strictly to it. So we were pursuing several goals at once: satisfying the client, fitting into the interior, and delivering a quality product.

The equipment was bought when supply was difficult, and some of it had to be swapped out. The Japanese brand originally specified in the project was replaced with alternatives, and at first we weren't sure we'd get the same quality. Many of the difficulties came from exactly this: using decent equipment, making the ducts as flat as possible, fitting into the design project, and choosing grilles that would satisfy both the client and the designer. It doesn't always work the first time, and some things had to be reworked and agreed on along the way, looking for compromises. In the end, it all came together.

A concealed system: not a single “white box”

For many people, an air conditioner just means white boxes on the wall. What system is used here?

Our task was to make sure there were no hanging boxes at all. The less ventilation you can see, the better: it should simply work. So we used a concealed air conditioning system, specifically hiding the indoor units in utility rooms. That way they're easier to service, take up minimal space, and don't “steal” ceiling height, since everything goes into the space above the ceiling.

From there, we ran the ductwork through the whole space using the flattest ducts possible. Unfortunately, not everyone makes these nowadays: it's specialised handwork, and few craftsmen are left who can do it, mostly from the old school. But it's exactly this that lets you make a duct only 8–10 cm high. And then the ceiling in the apartment stays very high.

Why ventilation is designed from day one

There must be limits to how flat ducts can be made, with their own ratios, a whole science to calculating volume.

Absolutely. That's why it's so important to get involved in the project from the very start. As soon as the layout is agreed with the client, the ventilation and air conditioning design has to begin at that same stage: correctly sizing the ducts, keeping air speed within limits, since that directly affects noise in the room, and fitting everything neatly into the interior.

Approvals: why you can't just install any system

The system is shared across the building: you're drawing air already prepared by the building. That means you can't just take any system you like: you need a design and approval from the chief engineer. What difficulties come up here?

That's exactly right. A residential complex has its own requirements: the design has to be prepared by a specialised organisation and approved by the management company. Only after that do we get the right to start work.

What matters here is that the contractor is “three in one”: installers, designers, and specialists, and later a service department as well. All of this is needed so that the client can then use the result without any worries.

On-site adjustments are the norm, not a mistake

Were there moments when the original design couldn't be carried out as planned, and you had to improvise right on site?

Bespoke design means a bespoke approach to the client. As soon as the client didn't like something, we had to change it, come up with something new, adjust it. Paper is one thing, the result is another.

And what might the client not like at this stage?

For example, the clients didn't like a grille, and together with the designer we made adjustments so that everything suited them completely. Creating an interior on paper is only half the job, even less. The main work happens here, on site: with specialists, contractors, experts. When everyone is reasonable and each one is a professional in their field, solutions are born. And it's worth telling the client plainly: it's normal for some adjustments to happen on site. These aren't mistakes in the design, we simply gather, look, and find the best solutions once we're working with the actual materials, sometimes genuinely good ideas that we're happy to carry out. A design isn't a set of constraints, it's a reason to make this interior happen.

I agree. I always say:

And the people who make up that organism really matter. That kind of magic can't be built exactly as drawn on paper.

The main mistakes at the start, and how to avoid them

What mistakes do designers and clients most often make when they start working on climate control?

The most important thing is not to neglect ventilation as such. Often a design project is created without ventilation, and it's integrated afterwards. That's a huge mistake: ceiling heights shrink, the whole picture changes, and the project can end up genuinely spoiled.

So the clear recommendation is to get involved in ventilation design at the very first moment, as soon as the layout is agreed. And under no circumstances save money on ventilation: the consequences of that will become obvious later. There's no need even to wonder whether you need humidification and ventilation. One client recently said exactly that: “Why didn't you make me do it?” Sometimes people genuinely need help understanding just how much they need it.

Don't save on equipment, don't save on grilles, since they have a direct bearing on the design, and don't save on contractors. I think that applies to more than just ventilation. And then the result will pay you back in kind.