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With the move towards the introduction of legislation to address the long-term environmental damage being caused by buildings, the building industry has responded with a trend to at least consider the approach to design. A holistic approach through the orientation, amount of glazing, amount of openings, sun shading, building materials, and use of natural resources is now considered during the design phases of most building work.
The starting point for this revised design approach is to look to the indigenous buildings of the past; in other words, prior to the widespread availability of mechanical air conditioning. Taking account of what is good from these buildings and by adapting the design to take account of the benefit of modern controls, the objective is to produce once again buildings which respond without mechanical assistance to the environmental needs of the occupancy.
Using this philosophy, the GMIT and the Design Team set out to produce a building that would incorporate the natural ventilation and design successes of historical buildings and would leverage off technological advances to enhance and improve the internal environment.
Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) is located on the approach road to Galway City , along the Dublin Road . The site is due south and overlooks Galway Bay . The campus dates back to the 1970’s and reflects the standard regional technical college built throughout Ireland at that time, with pre-cast concrete cladding panels combined with ribbon windows, which lack a sense of identity.
The objective of the client, GMIT, in commissioning the design of the Learning Resource Centre was to create a new landmark frontage, by designing an innovative building, responding to the environmental conditions and referring to and utilising local materials. The palette of materials used includes painted render, native limestone, and patinated copper. Copper was chosen for its vibrant colour, and malleable qualities most suitable for the organic forms in contrast to the orthogonal building elements.
The clients brief could be clearly divided into two rectangular volumes: lecture block and library/IT block. The lecture block consists of 16 lecture theatres and auditoria of varying capacities stacked above each other over three levels with the Administration Department set back at roof level on one side. In the adjacent block, the I.T Department is located with two levels of library stacked above connected by a glulam central staircase. The main entrance occurs where these two volumes overlap, demarcating the new axial route through the existing college.
The centre fits within a contoured landscape with ground levels rising and falling around its perimeter, mirroring the footprint of the building. Addressing the difference in level between the new and existing buildings a triangular wedge of land rises towards the learning resource building with a cantilevered bridge connecting to the main entrance. A free form purple fabric canopy stretches across the bridge providing shelter from the southwesterly winds.
A cast-insitu mass concrete wall links the two rectangular forms denoting the primary line of movement through the building. At the library end of this wall a series of three-pin steel portal frames push out a layer of the library / I.T enclosure which recedes into the landscape, creating a more organic edge. This edge segments into three copper clad forms shielding the library areas from solar gain, and act as acoustic baffles and light reflectors. Framed views of Galway Bay are strategically gained at the sail junctions where stainless steel strip windows are inserted.
The free form compositions reflect the shape of trapezoidal sails and takes cognisance of Galway ’s location on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and it’s maritime past.
The three sculptured copper sails though dramatic in scale have another dimension. They act as large air dispensers, ventilating a volume of 33,000 cubic meters naturally. Form and Function are intertwined and dictated the final modelling of the sails cross section.
The library interior reflects the organic external forms. Racked columns push ‘islands’ of floor plane towards the sails. The floor plane fractures and trapezoidal voids are formed. Light filters through these voids to the lower library floor where the majority of the book stacks are located. The concept is developed further at roof level with glazed elements peeling off the roof plane as if suspended in thin air.
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