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Official magazine of Easca  |
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From the ashes... |
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Monday, 09 May 2011 |
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Page 1 of 4
Energy conservation and CO2 emissions were not design concerns when
Scott Tallon Walker’s Carroll’s cigarette factory in Dundalk was created
over 40 years ago. The modernist landmark has been reborn for Dundalk IT as an avant garde exemplar of wind energy storage and an
ingenious approach to integrated heating, ventilation and cooling, as
sustainable design expert Chris Croly of BDP explains.
The strive towards the zero carbon design of new buildings is making progress but even if legislation immediately required all new buildings to achieve a zero carbon rating, the overall effect of Ireland’s buildings on the environment would be limited – due to the significant stock of existing buildings.
The good news is that older buildings do eventually need to be refurbished and we are then presented with an opportunity to address their energy performance. For non-domestic buildings, this opportunity forces itself on building owners every 25 to 30 years as heating and electrical systems of this age can become problematic and start to fail due to their intensive use. There are currently a huge number of buildings in Ireland that are approaching or have reached this key refurbishment opportunity.
As with all environmental topics, the refurbishment of an old building generates debate on which approach will have the least environmental impact. Should it be demolished to allow a new low energy solution to be created? Should as much of the existing building as possible be retained to take advantage of the energy embodied within the building’s materials and avoid unnecessary waste – at the risk of compromising the building’s energy performance?
The atria provide open space and allow natural light into the building
How far can the energy performance of our existing building stock be improved? To explore this question we will select one of the most challenging refurbishment projects we can find and review its transformation.
Constraints
The PJ Carroll & Co factory in Dundalk was obtained by Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) for conversion to a third level educational facility. DKIT embarked on a major refurbishment of the Carroll’s building to provide teaching spaces for computer science and performing arts courses, covering an area of 11,000m2.
In the larger lecture theatres air is supplied through grilles in the floor, using a system that detects occupancy in the room and monitors air levels
The factory was a very large industrial building, designed in 1967 as a cigarette factory. While the building’s energy performance was not a top priority in 1967, its design was of exceptional architectural merit. The building became known as one of the finest examples of Miesian architecture in Europe and was therefore listed, preventing the modification of its appearance or design principles during its refurbishment. This listing prevented the modification of the façade, including the areas of high level single glazing.
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