RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin (over €3,000,000)

A common building type is re-evaluated, with the results that bring it above the ordinary. The architects’ understanding of surface and texture and their skilful interplay of form, mass and void are particularly successful.

Architects Comment
Silicon and Software Systems, is one of the new breed of Irish based software development companies. This new International Headquarters was to accommodate current needs and short-term growth as the company has already outgrown a facility built on an adjacent site within South County Business Park.

The company is structured into teams that work separately on different projects in a very concentrated and focused manner. The new facility was to bring together staff from a number of existing locations and the challenge was to create an environment that would give a sense of unity, promote interaction between teams and thereby cross fertilisation of ideas.

The concept of the building was evolved to respond to the largely predetermined and repetitive nature of contemporary office programmes. The external surface, entrance, reception, and common (uncarpeted) areas of the brief take on much greater significance architecturally than the flexible office space. In an attempt to resolve this anomaly, the project employs the formal concept of a carved block, which reflects the generic nature of the programme, and by contrast, highlights the specific elements of the brief. The carving of the block responds to a number of internal and external forces; at the entrance and principal training rooms to highlight the importance of these spaces; to provide light to the centre of the plan and to provide a set back at second floor to comply with planning restrictions. Through the erosion of the form the logic of the section registers externally and the dimension of the skin is revealed. In contrast to the neutral black facades, these cut surfaces have a horizontal emphasis and contrasting colour and texture. Lighter in colour to reflect light internally and sandblasted to provide a slip resistant surface on the horizontal surfaces of the cuts. The language and materials have been extended to the common areas of the interior to unify and extend the impact of the concept.

The strongly geometric and abstract cladding panel/window pattern, through repetition, expresses the nature of the space contained and by its displacement stresses the mass of the object, and the tension of its surface. The dark colour and abstraction of the facades renders the block scale-less thus reducing the impact on its surroundings. The woven pattern of the principle facades emerged out of an exploration of the nature of the reconstituted stone, allowing for maximum repetition of a small number of panel types.

Client Comment
Silicon & Software Systems out grew their previous office within five years of its completion. Functionality and efficiency are the keys to our success; this attitude to business was brought to bear on the construction of our new office building where a broadly similar design team and contractors were assembled utilising the good working relationships that had been developed with the first building. The site selected is in the South County Business Park having the advantage of fresh air and park type setting. The architects created an open and positive working environment with strong connections to the pastoral landscape of the business park. The heart of the building is formed by an atrium that has a visual connection to the woodland to the north and is lit from high-level windows. This open and bright space brings clarity to the organisation of the building ensuring connections between different groups of people in the building. The building is efficient, facilitating a variety of uses within the typical office floor. The architects have combined functions required by the brief with a strong visual statement in keeping with the aspirations of our company.

Pieter Six, CSO