Description of the building:
The Bijou Theater on East 13th Ave. and Ferry St. inherited a building that was originally a church. The interior now contains two theaters and a lobby. Theater one, the theater surveyed was once the nave of the church. It is a two-story space with intermittent use. Many people occupy this place at one time while the lights are off and the projector is on. Theater one has three exterior walls and one interior wall shared with the lobby. The space is approximately 45 high, 75 feet long, and 30 feet wide. There is very little insulation in the roof. There are also several large non-insulated clerestory window covered with black plastic providing no insulation. Two forced air heaters located in the front of the theater approximately 25 feet high heat the theater. Two ceiling fans are located adjacent to the heaters, and one in the back by the projector, in an attempt to push the heat down. Because it is a theater there is very poor lighting and images of the interior are difficult to photograph.
Questions we had about the building:
- How is the heat distributed vertically?
- Do the windows and doors cause too much infiltration?
- Does the heat gain from the people in the movie theater make up for the heat loss?
- Is the air quality different when people in the theater?
- Do they have to heat the theater?
- What are the internal gains from the projector?
Hypothesis statement:
Due to the height of theater
one in the Bijou, the heat produced rises to the ceiling leaving the seating
plane outside the thermal comfort zone for the occupants.
