To accommodate the movement of large equipment and materials within the satellite engineering zone, the cleanroom incorporates a substantial gantry crane, installed by Hoist UK. To enable effective product flow within the space the cleanroom features a split height ceiling with a 6 metres internal height along the high bay. This layout gives Space Park Leicester the flexibility to adapt to different industry partners in future. For instance, a small telescope could be turned from a horizontal to vertical position, or a small spacecraft could be worked on in the high bay, whilst the low bay hosts a bench with optics.

Due to this considerable ceiling height, an innovative HVAC approach was required to achieve the required ISO 14644 class 6 classification. Volumetric supply modelling showed that a vertical downflow of air would not have achieved ISO class 6 at a working plane due to dilution of airflow from the 6m height—even with terminal HEPA filtration from Angstroms’ contemporary decentralised air handling system.

To achieve the required particle concentration limits, Angstrom designed a system using horizontal laminar flow with room side replaceable HEPA filtration for maintenance access within the controlled zones. This gave the required air velocity and reduced the risk of airflow disturbance at operating heights.