Fingal County Hall, Ireland

Fingal County Hall is a leading example of a low energy office building that minimises reliance on artificial and mechanical means to achieve the required levels of heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting.

The 10,000 sq.m building comprises three five-storey wings of shallow offices linked across one end by a stunning vertical main street; the outside entrance wall of which is a full height structural glass screen. At one end of the street is the circular council chamber, open along one wall to the gaze of passers-by outside the main street.

Great efforts have been made to achieve a sustainable low energy building. This is most in evidence in the offices where a combination of curved precast concrete ceilings, integrated lighting and a curtain wall with natural opening lights and solar shading, obviates any need for artificial cooling and reduces the dependence on artificial lighting.

The even distribution of daylight provided by the internal and external light shelves results in a naturally lit office area for a large proportion of the working day while fluorescent light fittings recessed into the concrete ceiling slab of the office areas provide a dynamic and indirect lighting scheme across the office space. The Delmatic system controls lighting throughout the building and provides fully flexible presence and daylight-related dimming: the dimming system controls ensures that the lighting matches and enhances the use of the room at any particular time and prevents energy wastage through unnecessary lighting.

The building maintains an effective balance between advanced automatic controls and the ability of occupiers to exercise direct control on their environment, and the lighting management system allows occupants to control the local lighting level above their workstation by typing a code into their telephone.

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