Work begins on one of Ireland’s most sustainable large buildings
Work has commenced on the E3 Learning Foundry, a state-of-the-art building situated at the eastern end of the Trinity College Dublin campus in Dublin. It will deliver new teaching facilities as well as offer learning spaces and laboratories for the Engineering, Environment and Emerging Technologies Institute. Located in the heart of the College’s historic city centre campus it aims to set new standards for sustainable design in Higher Education in Ireland.
The 7,300 sq m flagship building, which has been named the Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry, marks an expansion of education and research activities across Trinity College Dublin’s School of Engineering, School of Natural Sciences and School of Computer Science and Statistics. The building is designed to encourage new ways of student learning, including encouraging teamwork, design and project-based activities. When complete, the facility will create 1,600 new STEM student places, ensuring an academic focus on tackling societal challenges, including climate change and aiding Ireland’s transition to a ‘smarter’ economy. The central theme of E3 is ‘balanced solutions for a better world’.
Philanthropist Dr Martin Naughton of Glen Dimplex, has donated €25 million towards the development of the facility. JJ Rhatigan has been appointed as main contractor for the project. Established in Galway in 1952, JJ Rhatigan is one of Ireland’s top ten main contractors.
Sustainability has been a key consideration in the design of this six-storey building by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, from construction through to operation. The Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry will be the second Near Zero Energy Building delivered by JJ Rhatigan for Trinity College Dublin and has been designed to BREEAM Excellent and WELL Building standards to enhance the relationship between the building and the health and wellness of the occupants.
This innovative building will contain a voided slab system and the pioneering Thermally Active Building System, or TABS, which is a radiant heating and cooling system that uses the concrete mass of the building structure to store and exchange thermal energy to the neighbouring areas of the building.
Padraic Rhatigan, Chairman and group Managing Director of JJ Rhatigan, commented: “We are delighted to be selected to build this innovative learning foundry. It is significant for JJ Rhatigan to be back on this historic campus to construct what will be one of the most sustainable large buildings in Ireland. We welcome the opportunities this will bring for our client Trinity College Dublin, the team, and for our project delivery partners.”
The new facility will be located on the east end of the campus, between Westland Row and College Park and is expected to be completed by Autumn 2023. A Brown field site, the project is situated between existing occupied university laboratories and protected structures and is adjacent to the Trinity Business School, an award-winning facility completed by JJ Rhatigan in 2019.
CAPTION:
Dr Patrick Prendergast, then Provost of Trinity College Dublin, pictured at the sod-turning ceremony with Padraic Rhatigan and the Naughton family.
