13 March 2026
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A tailored Baxi air source heat pump (ASHP) solution is supplying low-carbon heating and hot water at Eaton Park Pavilion, a Grade II-listed building at the heart of one of Norwich City Council’s most popular parks.
The century-old historic pavilion has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment project to provide upgraded, modern, Football Association-compliant sports changing facilities. This includes new individual showering cubicles, toilets and officials’ rooms.
The improvements ensure the pavilion meets the highest standards of inclusivity, with the aim to boost participation of women and girls in sports within the park.
In keeping with Norwich City Council’s 2030 net zero goal for council operations and a 2045 target for the entire city, the listed building has received a substantial decarbonisation investment with building fabric and ventilation upgrades as well as solar PV panels and battery storage.
The project was designed by Jonathan Gray at M&E Consultancy JD Gray Associates Ltd, working with Chaplin Farrant Architects. Baxi provided technical and product support as well as commissioning to help achieve a successful heating and hot water solution that meets the project requirements.
Heating and hot water at the refurbished pavilion are now provided by the Baxi all-electric solution, comprising:
- Two roof-mounted Baxi HP50 13 kW ASHPs
- Two buffer vessels
- Two Baxi 300 litre ASHP cylinders.
Jonathan said: “One of the factors to consider was the size and placement of the ASHPs. Due to its heritage and distinctive architectural design, the pavilion is frequently photographed by both cameras and drones. As the ASHPs needed to be roof-mounted, a key design parameter of the council was to keep visibility of any of the kit on the roof minimal above the pavilion balustrade.
“When researching this project, I also had a session with the Baxi technical solutions team, which proved extremely useful. Critically, the Baxi heat pump that we selected was actually a good six inches lower than the one we’d considered up to that stage. And as this was to be a packaged heat pump and hot water plant, we selected the Baxi ASHP cylinder as well.”
With four football matches held consecutively at Eaton Park on both Saturdays and Sundays, the solution needed to meet high simultaneous demand for domestic hot water for the post-match showers. The challenge from an engineering perspective was designing a heat pump system capable of ensuring sufficient hot water as efficiently as possible, even on a cold winter’s day.
Jonathan added: “Using large-volume hot water storage was not an option due to plant room space limitations. Instead, working with Baxi’s technical solutions team, we explored different ways of using PV panels and battery storage with the heat pumps. The aim was to accumulate and store low-carbon energy for use at times of peak load.
“We established that we could accommodate 66 solar panels on the roof, which would be sufficient to charge two 8 kW batteries ahead of the weekend. The technical advice Baxi provided and their analysis of the different schematic options were invaluable.”
The pavilion’s solar PV panels generate electricity throughout the week to charge the batteries. When the batteries are full, the control divertor panel detects this and diverts the excess energy into the immersion heaters in the hot water tank.
The heat pumps then use the stored solar energy to heat water, which is held in the buffer tanks. Hot water is drawn from these stored cylinders when needed. Low-temperature fan convectors use the stored heat from the heat pumps to provide space heating within the pavilion.
By prioritising solar power, the solution reduces reliance on grid electricity and lowers bills by converting surplus energy into heat.
“Accurate control and ongoing energy monitoring are critical to ensuring the success of any heat pump system,” added Jonathan.
“Remote access via the web allows the council to monitor energy consumption easily and control the time periods for the heating of hot water. Extension timers mean that the system can be brought on quickly if there is any out-of-hours or out-of-program use required.
“And, of course, the ability to monitor remotely also means we can keep an eye on how the system is operating and identify potential ways of optimising performance through time-of-use tariffs.”
Richard Green, project co-ordinator in parks and open spaces, climate and environment at Norwich City Council, said: “We were already familiar with Baxi’s boiler solutions and are extremely pleased with our all-electric heat pump heating and hot water solution at the pavilion. It’s been running issue-free for the last four months now. This is a great project that successfully meets sustainability objectives – and it looks good too!
“Working with Jonathan, we will continue to monitor energy performance at the pavilion closely to maximise the benefits of this system and identify the most suitable electrical tariffs for us.”
Shane Suter, commercial business director at Baxi, said: “As local authorities and councils work towards tighter climate goals, decarbonising heat across their building estate and operations is a natural target to reduce their carbon footprint. Heat pumps are a proven technology, but the challenge is to strike the right balance between financial and environmental sustainability.
“We are proud that the technical design service and product support we provided on this project helped identify and deliver the right outcome for Norwich City Council at this iconic UK landmark.”
Project team
- Client: Norwich City Council
- Architect: Chaplin Farrant
- Mechanical Design: Jonathan Gray at J D Gray Associates
- Contractor: P J Plumbing and Heating
- Heat pump solution provider: Baxi
Discover more about Baxi’s portfolio of energy-efficient and low-carbon heating and hot water solutions.
www.baxi.co.uk
