County Buildings awarded architectural prize

The new County Buildings in Mullingar were announced last week in Dublin as winners of a major architectural award.The €40m project, opened on June 11, was named as winner at Plan Expo at the RDS Simmonscourt of the 2009 OPUS Architectural and Construction Award for the category of buildings costing over €20 million.According to the competitor organisers Plan - Expo, the OPUS Architecture & Construction Awards were devised to reflect and reinforce the symbiotic relationship between design and construction.Comments on the Westmeath County Buildings entry the judging panel, which included architects, Construction Industry Federation nominees, a structural engineer and a building services engineer, commented:"The drawings and photos submitted for this building did not do it justice."A site visit revealed a set of new and historic buildings interacting in an ingenious manner."The timber and glass atrium roof straddles various buildings, linking old and new in an engaging manner. "The new complex is innovative, sustainable, modern and respectful of its historic setting. A credit to all involved".Westmeath County Council, delighted with the award, told the Westmeath Examiner this week that the new, energy-efficient building, provides comfortable working conditions, and was completed ahead of time and within budget."The 74,900 square foot County Building incorporates low-energy, passive design concepts relying on a natural ventilation strategy throughout the building and maximised the use of natural light."Heating is supplied to the building by natural and mechanical means. The building has been designed to heat up during daytime operational hours by means of Solar Gain or radiation from the Sun. In essence this is free energy. Additional free sources of heating are derived from the occupants, visitors, personal computers and lightings fixtures."The building has been designed so that the work and public spaces are ventilated by natural means where possible using a mechanism known as 'cross ventilation'."The building is designed to take advantage of as much natural daylight as possible, primarily as a source of solar radiation to efficiently and economically heat the building but also to provide sufficient levels of light as required. Light sensors are strategically placed to monitor daylight levels: if it is dark, the output level of the lights is increased and conversely if it is bright, the output level of the lights is lowered accordingly."A Building Management System (BMS) enables the control of the various heating, ventilation and lighting elements by means of a single and centralized personal computer. These innovations will reduce significantly the carbon footprint of the Council & bring substantial financial savings.The project contractor was Bennett Construction Ltd & the architect was Bucholz McEvoy.