Coillte Teoranta (The Irish Forestry Board) headquarters is a state-of-the-art premises located in Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow. The building is the first all timber office complex in Ireland. It covers almost 2,300m2 of floor space and provides accommodation for almost 100 staff working in a wide range of forestry related disciplines.
The building, designed by the environmentally aware architect, Duncan Stewart of Stewart Sinnot Studio, was built in two phases. The first phase, which was completed in 1997 has been home to Coillte’s Southern Region. The second phase, which was factory pre-fabricated by Griffner Coillte in Mullingar, is only just complete and merges to form the new Corporate Headquarters. Buro Happold was involved in the second phase of this project, which was the 1000m² extension to Coillte’s original premises. The challenge was not only to build an extension to the existing Coillte office building, but to add several 'green' touches to both buildings, which will make the new office unique in Ireland. The aim was to create a corporate headquarters that demonstrates not just best practice in timber building tecgrahnology but also best practice in all-round sustainable design. Coillte intends for the building to act as a beacon for building developers and design professionals, showing them what is possible in terms of sustainable design and helping them understand the issues associated with the installation of these features.
While the existing building was ahead of its time in terms of demonstrating best practice in timber building technology, the new one seeks to build on this experience and to demonstrate best practice in all around sustainable design with the primary building material being timber from sustainable sources and insulation using recycled paper product to levels better than current Building Regulations standards.
The building is designed with a narrow plan to encourage natural cross ventilation via opening windows. The windows are designed to have different opening positions to provide trickle / background ventilation in Winter, minimal ventilation in Spring and Autumn and large full opening areas for Summer ventilation. High level windows are motorised and can provide secure night time cooling in Summer as required. A generous brise soleil (overhang) has been provided at roof level to minimise high angle summer solar gains whilst allowing the gains from low angle sun to help heat the building in Winter. High level windows in the sloping roof also have inbuilt retractable external blinds to reduce solar gains in Summer but without daylight or heat penalty in Winter. The demand for mechanical cooling is therefore removed and in addition the high insulation levels ensure very low heat demands in Winter.
A high quality of prefabrication workmanship ensured the minimum of waste, coupled with a very high accuracy and quality of finish. A high speed of manufacture was ensured by Griffner Coillte, optimizing the whole production process. The prefabrication of complete modular walls ensured the accuracy of assembly, and the manufacture of finishes took place in factory conditions. As much as possible was made offsite, limiting the associated unpredictability. The adoption of energy efficient construction effectively guarantees the building’s contribution towards a reduction in CO2 emissions as required under the Kyoto Protocol. The product complies fully with Irish Building Regulations and in addition is undergoing independent Certification with TRADA Technology. The building materials used are free of all volatile organic compounds, with the pressed wood boarding used being formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde free. The paints which were used are phenol free and the insulation was treated with jute and boron salt to protect against mould and insects whilst also improving the fire rating.
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