The project - a Maritime Energy Research and National Ocean Testing Facility - located beside the Lower Harbour in Cork, involves a tall element housing research spaces and a lower tank hall containing testing facilities. Conceived as a stone outcrop on the edge of the water, subject to the action of wind and sea, the plan form is driven by the size and relationship of the four testing tanks, used alternately still or agitated with paddle mechanisms and profiled floorplates to simulate wave action, coastal erosion, ocean floor modelling.
A large volume, long span space is required to facilitate a slow balletic movement of heavy lifting gantry cranes, instrument bridges, access gangways, suspended camera equipment, people and forklifts moving independently over each other and travelling along and across each tank – thus a series of 45m long trusses swing across the volume supporting a folded roof. Workshops cluster along the east side of the tank hall, indented for natural ventilation like gills of a fish or barnacles on a rock outcrop, while larger indents give
access for deliveries (east) and people (west). Research spaces are stacked to the sea, open to light and views northwards. Continuing the indented nature of this addition on the edge of the Harbour, surfaces of the research tower are eroded deeply on north and east facades, analogous to the action of wind and water on driftwood, generating a series of indented planes on the elevation to the sea for windows and balconies.
The roof is geometrically resolved as a series of mathematically generated planes triangulated into different slopes, reflecting the Z-shaped swing of the trusses over the tanks mapped onto the fixed points of the workshops. Tension between the folded form above and the captured volumes beneath present an oscillating rhythm which intersects the serrated edges of the plan in a range of relationships.
Sustainability
Designed and constructed to an exemplary level of thermal insulation and air-tightness, exposed concrete soffits provide thermal mass to assist in passive cooling in offices during the day, and generous levels of high performance glazing allow the building to be naturally lit where required, reducing the heating and cooling load on the building. The orientation of the glazing - primarily to the northern façade - reduces thermal gains, while plan depths allow office spaces to be naturally ventilated.
Low voltage actuators control a passive ventilation system in the tank hall via the BMS, and heat recovery systems are used in bathroom and shower areas. Solar thermal panels provide year round hot water and the large roof provides an ideal collector for the rain water harvesting system. Water saving devices internally ensure that this water is used as efficiently as possible with
60% of water typically used for toilet flushing being harvested water.
The M&E services also reduce energy demand utilizing low energy, long life light fittings throughout; dimmable, intelligent lighting controls ensure lighting is only operational when required, reducing lighting load by 40-60%. A mix of efficient trench heaters and radiators, zoned and controlled by the BMS, optimises energy use.
Electric car charging points and bicycle parking, storage and shower facilities are provided as part of UCC’s sustainable transport plan.
During construction, the concrete slab of an existing warehouse onsite and excavated rock was crushed and re-used as aggregate, reducing the embodied energy required to construct the building.
sThe building has been future proofed to allow for the seamless integration of other sources of energy
generation. Infrastructure has been put in place to allow for the connection of a wind turbine and photo-voltaic solar panels to provide for all of the building’s energy requirements. The building currently achieves an “A3” rating with the possibility of upgrading this to an “A1” rating when additional energy generating devices are connected.
