WESTMEATH COUNTY HALL
Our primary objectives in creating a new Civic Office building for Westmeath County Council are :
to create an open and transparent nexus of public service at the heart of the County Council campus,
create the best possible environment for the employees of Westmeath County Council to provide an enhanced service to its public.
To create an environment in-balance with the external environment, through the design of a structure which in it's construction and operation consumes less of the environment's natural non-renewable resources.
The building is a CIVIC place, internally a sculpture of light, created primarily with glass, timber, and concrete, externally an open and transparent expression of local government. The building opens and invites the public inside; both through its transparent appearance, and the connections it makes to the village of Mullingar, to the public space, to the park space, to the excavations and historical buildings, and to the existing County Buildings. The building creates strong spatial links with the existing County Buildings, reinstates a strong urban edge with connections across and through the building. The building leads the way in environmentally sustainable construction, and operation.
THE URBAN GESTURE OF EXTENSION AND LINKING
The building links the urban fabric of Mullingar to the landscape fabric; it creates a large public park, in the zone of the excavations on the southern portion of the site, as well as the triangular park. The urban fabric of Mullingar village is extended into the County Buildings to establish the public space within the building. This space links the main entrance at the termination of Mount Street the Public Park in front of the building. Along this linking space, elements which serve the public are located, benches for a place to momentarily alight both inside and outside, the general reception desk, the main public counters, the meeting and interview rooms, spaces where the interface between the County Council and its community will be staged. This "public street" engages the Council with the people and the heart of the campus with the surrounding parkscape.
PUBLIC SPACE : ENVIRONMENTAL SPACE : STITCH SPACE
The main atrium of the building is conceived of as a light-filled glass and timber hall, where the presence of the existing County Building and the historical remains are linked. Movement across the site, through the building, and to the public park takes place along this spine constantly reinforcing the connection to County Building. The atrium with its dynamic "Stitch" roof structure and timber/fabric walls passing along its edges serves several functions. It provides a setting for the civic functions of its community, for the interface between the Council and its public, it is the focus around which the building revolves and is organized, and importantly it is the principle driver for the natural ventilation of the building.
BUILDING FORM
The building form is principally organized in two axes; one north-south which contains the library and establishes the principal relationship with the existing County Building, and the other east-west presenting a south elevation to the park. The library is accessed from the main public space with its reading room addressing the public park. The curved office spine looks to the south, addressing the new public park over the excavated ground. This ground is used as a source of supply air for the offices - most of the office spaces south or east facing facades which are 'tuned into' the environment to optimize day lighting and natural ventilation. The shallow office floor plates,13.5m wide - the optimum dimension for natural ventilation with no mechanical assistance, and for space planning on the 1.5 meter planning grid, provide flexibility in space planning densities according to the needs of the various departments. High floor to ceilings (3020mm in office spaces) maximize the penetration of natural daylight into the space.
BUILDING ORGANISATION
Departmental locations in the building are organized according to the requirements for public interface, with the most visited departments - Housing, Motor Tax/Cash Office and Mullingar Area Office in prominent locations on the entrance level, close to the main public entrance. The floor of the atrium provides a generous waiting/information collecting area/exhibition area for the public, with access to the main public counters, the cash office and the meeting/interview rooms. On the first floor link bridges connect the existing County Buildings to the reception/meeting room spine of the new building. On the upper levels a reception/waiting area overlooking the atrium provides access to the meeting rooms. Access to the shared reception areas of the departments are located along either the atrium bridge or the meeting room spine, behind the staff security line. Shared areas/support areas for the office spaces are located in the 'core of the plan in enclosed spaces as required for ventilation - tea-stations, recycling areas, filing areas, copy rooms, stationery stores etc., along with fire stairs, Wcs, cleaners rooms etc., The Directors and the County Manager share the uppermost floor, with the County Manager's suite located over the library with a terrace overlooking the park.
MATERIALS
Concrete - The main building is a concrete frame, a two-way spanning flat slab with a sculpted soffit. Concrete is used in harmony with its environment serving many functions simultaneously - it supports the building(!); it provides heating & cooling to the building through the use of it's thermal mass, controlled through heating/cooling tube introduced into it; it acts as a diffuse light source, reflecting/diffusing both artificial and natural light; it acts as a sound diffuser. The concrete slab provides in one element, a masterwork of construction and engineering, both environmental and structural, a beautiful source of ambient light for the office spaces, giving rhythm and form to the office space.
Atrium - The Atrium is conceived of as a 'stitch' space, stitching between old and new, between urban conditions, between Council and public - structurally its roof structure reflects this. Close collaboration with the structural (RFR) and environmental engineers, has produced an efficient, beautiful, and functional structure. A series of glass and timber beams which traverse the space are supported on columns.
Facades - Timber and glass facades are designed for ease of use by the building's occupants for natural ventilation - all ventilation of the office spaces is effected by opening a vertical ventilator, a human scaled, timber door in the façade - unlike a window, this is weather protected when open, particularly important in Ireland where there is a high occurrence of high winds and rain concurrently. Glass type, shading type and their deployment are derived from environmental simulations. Fixed shading is provided to the street elevations with moveable shading to the courtyard elevations - these are controlled by the BMS to reduce heat gain. Integrated interpane blinds and okasolar interpane light shelves are incorporated on the south facade.
Light Fittings; for the office space we have developed a special fitting which combines the principal of uplighting with two luminaire temperatures to follow the changing colour temperature (cool to warm) through the day. This fitting is designed to achieve the very low energy targets set by the Brief.
CRAFT IN THE ASSEMBLING OF THE BUILDING
The facades of the existing County Building are made from stone cut by hand - though of a civic scale the touch of the human hand is reflected in their construction. In this new building we aspire to create enclosure in a modern way, but reflecting human engineering and craft, while acknowledging the scale and civic nature of the building and its neighbor. A two-storey timber and glass façade, an environmental brise-soleil, reflects the scale of the stone porch on the existing building. Timber windows made from a renewable material, by joiners working as they have for centuries. Surfaces are worked and treated by the hand of man - this craft has a direct and legible relationship with the engineering of the building. The concrete slab has a texture that requires care in the forming of its soffits. These means of construction stand as an indication of the way in which the building was constructed, i.e. by men and women, for men and women
