Lascaux IV: TROX climate preserves prehistoric cave paintings

In the Dordogne's Vézère valley in southwestern France you can find the world-famous cave of Lascaux. It contains the most outstanding prehistoric paintings known to man. The original cave is, however, no longer open to the general public since the increasing number of visitors had a negative impact on the climate in the cave and threatened to eventually destroy the artworks. France has now built a museum which is a replica of the cave. It is called Lascaux IV and scheduled to open before the end of this year.

The architecture of the ten exhibition rooms with a faithful copy of the Stone Age paintings is true to the original. Yet not only the architecture is supposed to evoke an impression of being in the original cave, but also the climate.

This is why the building owner decided to rely on TROX technology to ensure a constant climate with a temperature of 16 °C and 90 % humidity. 21 X-CUBE air handling units provide the museum with 130,000 m3 of conditioned air per hour. Splitter sound attenuators of Types XSA and MSA ensure that the ventilation and air conditioning is inaudible. The cave-like architecture required the TROX experts to install many different systems in order to maintain a constant and pleasant climate. VAV air terminal units of Type TVR and CAV controllers of Type VFL ensure a constant airflow. Air is supplied by DUK jet nozzles. XARTO ceiling swirl diffusers have also been installed. These diffusers have fixed blades and allow for a four-way horizontal air discharge. The VDL swirl diffusers have adjustable blades which can be set precisely by actuators such that the required volume flow rate and exact airflow direction are achieved. Other TROX components in the museum include VSD slot diffusers and QL-WE-O displacement flow diffusers.

The Lascaux project has been a very special challenge for TROX France, and not only because of the complex technical requirements. Being able to participate in a project of such cultural and historic dimensions has been a great motivation for the TROX team in Rungis, near Paris.

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TROX is leading in the development, manufacture and sale of components, units and systems for the ventilation and air conditioning of rooms. With 29 subsidiary companies in 28 countries on 5 continents, 14 production facilities, and importers and representatives, TROX is present in over 70 countries. Founded in 1951, global market leader TROX, whose international head office is in Germany, generated in 2015 with a total of 3,700 employees around the globe revenues of €482 million.

For further information or should you have any questions about TROX, please contact:
Christine Roßkothen
Corporate Marketing
Voice: +49 (0) 2845 202464
Fax: +49 (0) 2845 202587
c.rosskothen@trox.de
www.troxtechnik.com