RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin (over €3,000,000)

A robust building which is nevertheless engaging and which uses its difficult site geometry to open, to invite and to contribute to the community.

Architects Comment
This project is a community resource centre developed by Dublin City Council as part of the HARP (Historic Area Regeneration Project) initiative – both a significant facility for community development and a potent symbol of inner city regeneration. The brief was to provide a multi functional community resource building whose principal user is MACRO (the Markets Area Community Resource Organisation), an established community development organisation which provides a range of services to the community including community information services, adult education and training, counselling services, local employment services, senior citizens and creche care and community and youth services.

The design considerations which have informed the development of the project were:

- To provide a community which in addition to providing specific accommodation is a symbol of community regeneration.

- The design of the building to be open, accessible and engaging to the area and its residents.

- To develop a legible and clear organisation to facilitate easy use of it’s various functions.

- To respond to the potential of the site particularly in its frontage onto North King Street while simultaneously ameliorating it’s north facing orientation.

Interior finishes, which are required to be robust and of low maintenance are fairface concrete and blockwork with brickwork in the central atrium space, reinforcing its reading as a public space. The materials of the facades are generally blue engineering brick, tonally related to the granite of the adjacent monumental buildings. The external appearance of the building and the composition of the façade reflects the basic organisation of the building itself and in particular it’s public accessibility. The Green Street elevation has covered entrance space and the crèche courtyard above, signifying the entrance and central space within. The ground floor is generally glazed to North King Street so that the public functions of the Community Information Centre and café can read from the street, expressing the openness and accessibility of the community resource within.

The intermediate floors, particularly the crèche and administrative offices have a strong corner orientation and the importance of the corner is expressed by the articulation of the Youth Service areas above. The top floor also benefits from rooflights, which give high level south light to Youth Service and workshop areas.

Client Comment
New traffic patterns in the city have seen the realignment of the street frontage along North king Street. This realignment has resulted in the fragmentation of the North facing façade and the creation of a number of small difficult sites. The leftover site abutting the Debtors Prison was one such site.

The provision of a community building to accommodate MACRO(“Markets Area Community Resource Organisation”) was required by the Dublin City Council. The ambition was that this building would have a strong presence on the new street and symbolise the regeneration of the overall area and the critical community dynamic, which underpins the programme.

All of these objectives were successfully achieved through Derek Tynan Architects response.

The rigid adherence to the new street edge, forced by an awkward limited site, has reinforced the traditional street pattern in the area and the distinctive brick colour and strong architectural language has given the project the necessary sense of presence on the street and in the area generally. The internal planning incorporating the differing uses and demands is handled successfully and with confidence. The introduction of natural light from the roof level down through the circulation core is an added bonus on a constricted site. This solution has already become the model for community centres in the city.

Jim Barrett, City Architect