ASSESSMENT OF THERMAL COMFORT AND AIR QUALITY AT A BARBEQUE STALL IN A NATURAL VENTILATED HAWKER CENTRE

Abstract

Newton Hawker Centre (NHC) is one of the iconic hot spots in Singapore, where tourists and locals gathers to dine and bond over their favourite hawker dishes. As it is a naturally ventilated outdoor spaces that could be highly susceptible to varying external environment, the extend of environment comfort provided to the users was questionable. In particular, the thermal comfort and air quality in food stalls that requires heavy cooking activities, such as “TKR BBQ” stall, that involve the use of charcoal as the main source of fuel. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the performance of air quality and thermal comfort condition of patrons and food stall workers’ perception through objective measurement and subjective assessment. In addition, exhaust hood in the food stall was also evaluated to study the effectiveness of hood to remove air borne contaminants in the stall. Objective results show that the thermal condition and air quality have rooms for improvement in their respective region in NHC as well as “TKR BBQ” stall. However, subjective assessment proves it otherwise as users’ perception and expectation was lower in the context of semi-outdoor environment. Hence, having a greater tolerance of environmental condition in NHC. Recommendation will be provided based on the design of the NHC for further upgrading works in the future to facilitate better ventilation in the spaces. As for “TKR BBQ” stall, recommendation will be provided for the best thermal condition for the users and methods to improve the capture efficiency of the exhaust hood will be discussed.