Fingal County Hall is an open and transparent expression of local government, providing a sustainable, low-energy working environment for 450 Council employees.

An existing crescent of tall Holm Oak trees and a 150-year-old Himalayan Cedar along the western edge of the site were integrated into our design and helped to establish a civic scale befitting that of a County Hall. The trees together with the building give form to a new civic space, the 'public foyer' of the County Hall which is part internal, part external. Visitors arrive in a green-floored 'piazza' colonnaded with the trunks of Holm Oaks and roofed with their foliage. The five-storey high atrium, defining the edge of the space is the meeting point of public and private, a 'vertical main street', extending in an open gesture towards the community.

Photography : Michael Moran

fig. 1

View of atrium from above

Fig. 2
west facade, main entrance

Fig. 3
approach to building from main street north

Fig. 4
south facade, council chamber and offices

Fig. 5
main entrance approach from north

Fig. 6
Timber spar support to suspended glass

Fig. 7
south facade offices, typical bay

Fig. 8
Typical office space looking across transparent link courtyard from inside

Fig. 9
Council Chamber

Fig. 10
Rotating timber louvre in Council Chamber

Fig. 11
view to north from top of atrium

Fig. 12
View of atrium from public park

Fig. 13
atrium detail along building movement joint

Fig. 14
junction between office spine and office core

Fig. 15
south facade, office building

Fig. 16
north facade office building

Fig. 17
detail of main reception desk

Fig. 18
Handrail detail in atrium, oak shaped to grasp

Fig. 19
detail council chamber table

Fig. 20
detail council chamber table

Fig. 21
detail timber pivot vent between meeting room and atrium

Fig. 22
office space sculpted concrete ceiling and custom up-light fitting

Fig. 23
detail atrium suspended glass structure

Fig. 24
site plan

Fig. 25
Landscape plan